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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24179737">Claws &amp; Effect</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kinrah/pseuds/Kinrah'>Kinrah</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Mass Effect Trilogy, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Chapters in Anachronic Order, Humanity isn't reliant on Element Zero, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 23:14:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>19,202</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24179737</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kinrah/pseuds/Kinrah</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In the year 2157, the Turians attacked an unknown species found to be tampering with Mass Relay #314. They expected a race still young in spaceflight who would submit easily to their might. What they got instead was the Terran Systems Alliance, a united force of humans and hundreds of species collectively known as Pokémon.</p><p>In the year 2183, the SSV Normandy started what was described as a shakedown run to the Exodus Cluster. Two and a half years later, its Commander Shepard had gathered a large multispecies crew, cheated death on several occasions, rewritten multiple rulebooks, and faced down the entity in command of a swarm of invading biomachines with a grin on his face. How he got there is not completely a matter of public record. No one person has told the full story. Until now.</p><p>A universe fusion story in which Pokémon and Mass Effect share the same timeline.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>38</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. 000 Cataclysm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So I've been sitting on this for a very long time (I originally planned to put it up four months ago, that's how long). It started as a whim and very, very quickly got out of hand. Before you begin reading, there are a couple of points I need to go over:</p><p>1. This story is told in anachronic order. That is, the order in which chapters will be posted here are not the order in which the characters experience them. The main reason for this is to allow quicker access to a greater range of characters; a lot of the story, especially towards the beginning during Mass Effect 1, remains a great deal the same as the actual games, and that ground's been trodden so many times it would be a waste of time writing it all and then reading it. This allows the introduction of new and existing characters early. It's all well and good knowing that there are great characters just from canon ME alone who only appear in Mass Effect 3 but if the story's told in order you know it'll be a very long time before you get to meet them. If the story's popular enough and people want it, I'll put up a separate document which links to all the chapters in chronological order.<br/>2. There is not so much focus on the science. This isn't one of those stories where everything makes <i>complete</i> scientific sense, although this should be kept in mind anyway bearing in mind - hey, it's a Pokémon crossover! Since when has every detail in that universe been scientifically explained? I'll cover the basics in-story as much as I can, and some chapters will have supplementary codex excerpts following them, but gaps are inevitable. It's also not going to kick off with a timeline of how things went down. All you really need to know is that the starting point is <i>mostly</i> the same as where canon Mass Effect starts.</p><p>Tags concerning later characters will be added when they start appearing. Relationship tags probably won't appear at all, since while there <i>will</i> be romantic relationships (this is Mass Effect, come on) they aren't a driving force of the story.</p><p>All good? Strap in. Much like any vehicle driven by Shepard, this is going to be a bumpy ride.</p>
    </blockquote><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>000<br/>cataclysm (n) a violent upheaval or disaster.<br/>see also: 'Great Cataclysm' (N) according to Absol, the ultimate disastrous moment marking the end of the known universe.</p><p>At the end of everything, there is always a Catalyst, and there is always a Shepard.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>000. In orbit around Earth</h4>
<h3>CATACLYSM</h3><p>For a moment, the two of them stared off. Of course, the choice was impossible. Of the options presented, not one led to a satisfactory outcome.</p><p>Destroy. Control. Synthesize.</p><p>The Catalyst’s arrogance was stunning, giving out the illusion of free choice when in reality it was in the driver’s seat. It had always been waiting for this moment, to trap the one who thought they could clear away the Reapers. It all came down to what the sucker would choose.</p><p>Destroy. Destroy the Reapers entirely, wipe them from the galaxy. Along with them everything they brought and everything that was brought from them, the Mass Relays, the Geth, EDI. They all held the galaxy together. They weren’t indispensable. It would crush their spirits.</p><p>Control. Seize command of the Reapers and force them to stop, to rebuild. It went against everything that had come before. It was what Cerberus had wanted, what the Illusive Man had wanted. No one person should have that power.</p><p>Synthesize. Rewrite the galaxy, bring organic and synthetic together into a mix of blended lifeforms. Playing Arceus with genetics. The consequences of that were unfathomable. Changing everybody just to avoid the other options? That was wrong on so many levels.</p><p>And the fourth option left unmentioned, not choosing at all, would be even worse. That would mean all of that effort, everything his friends, everything the <i>galaxy</i> had done would be for nothing. It had to mean something. They’d spent so long working towards this point and to throw it all away when the time came would be unthinkable.</p><p>Destroy. Control. Synthesize. Walk away. And a sucker courtesy of Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy, Council SPECTRE.</p><p>
  <i>
    <b>
      <span class="u">Make your decision.</span>
    </b>
  </i>
</p><p>Everything the Reapers and the Catalyst had done had led towards this one moment. Everything had been planned for.</p><p>Except for one thing.</p><p>It would be said that Shepard never broke eye contact with the Catalyst in that moment. He looked the hologram straight in the eyes. And he grinned.</p><p>Everything… except for <i>him</i>.</p><p>Ready to go back to the beginning?</p><p>
  
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. 001 Pilot</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>001<br/>pilot (n) 1. a person who operates the flying controls of an aircraft.<br/>2. test (a scheme, project, etc.) before introducing it more widely.</p><p>The story didn't begin with Joker, but it began with Joker.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>001. Normandy SR-1, Asgard System, en route to Eden Prime</h4><h3>PILOT</h3><p>With a jolt, the ship returned to normal space.</p><p>After taking a moment to shake off the effects of the mass transit, Flight Lieutenant Jeff ‘Joker’ Moreau threw on the stealth system and ran down his list of post-transit checks. “Never gonna get used to that,” he muttered, once he was absolutely certain that they were where they intended to be and hadn’t left any part of the <i>Normandy</i> on the other side of the galaxy. After spending half his life piloting standard Alliance Psyships flying something with a mass effect core felt like the training wheels had been thrown back on. Sure, taking the mass relays was a heck of a lot faster, but at the same time, speed was an easy thing to sacrifice over not wanting to puke your guts out afterwards.</p><p>Glancing to his left, he noted that his partner Ace, a Pidgeotto, had her eyes squeezed shut and was gripping on to the headrest of the co-pilot’s seat so hard she was starting to leave marks. Pokémon disliked mass transit just as much as humans did, and even those who travelled regularly such as themselves barely tolerated it. Keeping one eye on the display, Joker reached over and rubbed the back of her head gently. While the <i>Normandy</i> was a fantastic ship, this was its one downside.</p><p>A cough came from behind him, reminding him of its current <i>other</i> downside. “Right. Drift.” He snapped all of his focus back to the screens in front of him. “Just over 1500k.”</p><p>“Fifteen hundred is good,” stated downside #2, the omnipresent Turian SPECTRE Nihlus Kryik, in a tone of voice that suggested ‘fifteen hundred is tolerable, but a Turian would have done better’. Joker was still not entirely convinced that he’d gotten over the whole stealing-the-<i>Normandy</i> thing. “Your captain will be pleased.”</p><p>Joker watched him march off down the bridge towards the CIC. “I hate that guy,” he said under his breath, once he was sure the SPECTRE was out of earshot. He didn’t particularly have anything against Turians in general, but having a spook almost perpetually hovering over your shoulder was annoying whatever their species. Nihlus being around was only marginally better than having a Ghost-type attached to you, mainly because Nihlus obeyed the laws of physics.</p><p>“Nihlus gave you a compliment, so you hate him?” asked the man in the navigation officer’s chair to his right, Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko, giving Joker a sidelong glance. He wasn’t <i>supposed</i> to be in the navigation officer’s chair, but since the actual navigation officer Charles Pressly was currently at the other end of the bridge, somebody had to be making sure all of its readouts were functioning.</p><p>“He hates everybody who doesn’t immediately praise him for being the best pilot in the universe,” Ace put in, still keeping her eyes shut. Traitor. “Have we stopped yet?”</p><p>“No more mass transit for a while,” Joker confirmed. Hopefully that constituted all of the mass transit tests for the shakedown run and they’d hop back to Arcturus the conventional way. It wasn’t like the Exodus Cluster was a relay nexus. “And to <i>answer your question,</i>” he continued, turning to face Kaidan, “You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on your way out of the bathroom, that’s good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead, so that’s incredible. Besides, SPECTREs are trouble. I don’t like having him on board. Call me paranoid.”</p><p>“You’re paranoid,” said Kaidan and Ace at exactly the same time. Did nobody on this ship understand sarcasm? “And,” continued his partner, finally opening her eyes for the first time since they’d exited the mass transit and glancing in Joker’s direction, “Actually, about your jumpsuit…”</p><p>Looking down in sheer panic was instinctual, as was the glare Joker returned when he realized half a second later that he had, in fact, remembered to zip up. “Ha ha, real original, Ace. You know, I hear you don’t even notice mass effect transit inside your capture ball.”</p><p>“Oh, hell <i>no.</i>”</p><p>“Exactly.” Sometimes Joker wondered why, out of all the Pokémon he could have chosen, the one he ended up with turned into such a smartass.</p><p>Sometimes Ace wondered why, out of all the humans <i>she</i> could have chosen, the one she ended up with turned into such a dork.</p><p>Meanwhile, Kaidan made another plea to get the ship’s pilot to admit defeat. “Are you forgetting that the Council funded this project? They have a right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment.”</p><p>“Yep, yep, like I haven’t heard that a million times. That’s the official story. But only an idiot believes the official story.” And Joker was no idiot. He could think of much better places, and probably better people as well, for such an experimental ship’s shakedown run. It seemed the sort of thing more suited to a Salarian tech guy than a Turian SPECTRE. Usually, if a SPECTRE was involved, <i>something</i> was going to blow up, and damned if Joker was going to let that something be the <i>Normandy</i>.</p><p>Considering who’d been thrown together to crew this so-called shakedown run, how could the official story make sense at all? Captain Anderson, decorated military officer, by all rights should have been at the helm of a much bigger ship than this. Commander Shepard, N7 operative with a reputation of being extremely difficult to keep down. Lieutenant Commander Cross, the Angel of Elysium. Navigator Pressly, Engineer Adams, Dr. Chakwas, each of them had enough good standing to get them pretty much whatever post they wanted. You didn’t need such a crew for a shakedown run, even for an experimental ship such as the <i>Normandy</i>. You especially didn’t need them in the Exodus Cluster.</p><p>Compared to them, Joker’s own service record seemed a bit mundane. Not that he’d admit it, of course.</p><p>And it could always be worse; there was always the Butcher of Torfan…</p><p>“What do you think, Commander?”</p><p>For a moment Joker was thrown off by Ace’s question, before remembering that yes, he had heard Commander Shepard’s distinctive boots coming up the bridge just before they’d transitioned through the last relay. The Commander was a man of few words outside the battlefield, and his infiltrational skills were unmatched; already Joker was running afoul of his uncanny ability to blend into the background and essentially make himself invisible.</p><p>Joker turned his head to look back at the Commander. He was leaning back against the bulkhead, arms crossed, staring out of the cockpit windows deep in thought. “They don’t normally send SPECTREs on shakedown runs,” he said eventually.</p><p>At last, someone who agreed with him. Joker took the moment to flash a smug grin in Kaidan’s direction. “So the Captain knows more than he’s letting on.”</p><p>So what could it be? If Nihlus planned on jacking the ship for the Council, then he picked the wrong crew to go up against. But then if it was just Council business, what was stopping him from taking a different ship? Arcturus was well out of the way from a direct route between the Citadel and the Exodus Cluster. See, he could believe the presence of a SPECTRE if the trials were finished and the ship was going into normal operation, but not before.</p><p>Then again, if he remembered rightly, after the shakedown <i>Normandy</i> was destined for the 63rd Scout Flotilla under Rear Admiral Mikhailovich who, co-developed or not, would never let a Turian boot on board ever again. Or any Pokémon outside of their capture balls, for that matter, crew be damned, and with that thought Joker made a mental note to ask Ace to perch on the back of every chair in the bridge before they left.</p><p>His little reverie was interrupted by the voice of V10, the ship’s Porygon, floating out of the comms in front of him. <i>“Joker, Captain Anderson is requesting a status report.”</i></p><p>“Gotcha, thanks V10.” Officially, its name was Normandy.Alpha.v1.10, but who would willingly want to contantly refer to it with an eleven-syllable version address? Joker tapped the key to contact the Captain’s quarters. “Captain, we just cleared the mass relay. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid.”</p><p><i>“The mass effect core is maintaining stealth at optimal capacity,”</i> V10 put in, confirming that the data that it was getting was the same that Joker was getting, which was always an encouraging sign. <i>“However I recommend it be allowed to cool before switching to the Camouflage Engine’s standalone test.”</i></p><p><i>“Noted.”</i> At that moment, Captain Anderson would be in his quarters on the deck below. There was, for a reason Joker hadn’t yet worked out but was probably the fault of the Turians, no seat for the commanding officer anywhere on the bridge. <i>“Find us a comm buoy so V10 can link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime.”</i></p><p>“Aye aye, Captain.” One button press and the ship sent out a priority request ping to gauge the location of the nearest buoy. As to be expected for the Exodus Cluster, Eden Prime was well connected, and Joker adjusted the ship’s course accordingly to bring the nearest one into V10’s range.</p><p>Oh, right, Nihlus. “Better brace yourself sir, I think Nihlus is headed your way.”</p><p>He knew as soon as he finished saying it that it had been a bad idea. Of course, the facepalm emoji V10 wrote onto the display didn’t help either. <i>“He’s already here, Lieutenant.”</i> Abruptly the channel closed. Aw, crap.</p><p>“He sounds angry.” It took all of Joker’s self restraint to not jump in surprise. That was exactly what he had been warned about with regards to Shepard’s knack - it had been a scant couple of minutes, if that, since he’d last spoken and already Joker had forgotten he was standing there. “Something must have gone wrong.”</p><p>“Don’t read too much into it. Captain always sounds like that when he’s talking to me.”</p><p>“I can’t <i>possibly</i> imagine why,” muttered Ace dryly.</p><p><i>“It’s— it’s not my fault, is it?”</i> Now a Porygon icon appeared on the display, indicating that V10 had opened a private channel to the cockpit. <i>“I thought everything was running okay…”</i> Somebody - probably Nihlus - had had the bright idea to tell V10 straight that the <i>Normandy</i> was a very important, experimental ship, that anything that did go wrong was going to be scrutinized very carefully, and that if the Council had gotten their way there wouldn’t have been a Porygon on board at all. Ambassador Chase had pressed them extremely hard for that one concession. By now, she had argued, Porygon and their evolutionary line had gone far beyond the realm of conventional artificial intelligences, if they even counted to be described as such in the first place, that there was absolutely no possibility of an uprising similar to the Geth of three hundred years ago, and if something did occur to give the Porygon cause to revolt, the fault lay with the society, not the species.</p><p>The word ‘species’ had been emphasised a <i>lot</i>. It had been shouted a few times too, Joker remembered from the vid of the meeting he’d found on the Alliance intranet. Either way, V10 had successfully become terrified over the prospect of getting anything wrong.</p><p>“I doubt it’s your fault,” said Kaidan. “Your installation was tested thoroughly before you were even integrated with the ship. If there’s anything wrong, it’ll be with the <i>Normandy</i>, not with you.”</p><p>“Not that there’s anything wrong with the <i>Normandy</i> either!” Joker added. Flying her was a piece of cake. Speaking of which. “Hey, we’re coming up on that comm buoy now.”</p><p>
  <i>“Got it.”</i>
</p><p>They waited a moment.</p><p>“V10?”</p><p>
  <i>“Sorry! I pinged the buoy but this latency is unbelievable!”</i>
</p><p>Joker and Kaidan exchanged a glance. Comm buoys were notoriously lag-free. It couldn’t be broken either, since they automatically fired off a request for maintenance and then would be broadcasting as such. “Are you sure? It’s not just, I don’t know, bad signal?”</p><p>
  <i>“Working on confirmation, stand by.”</i>
</p><p>Hmmm. Joker drummed his fingers on the nearest available solid surface. Rerouting to another buoy on the way to Eden Prime was of course possible but it would postpone their ETA by a few minutes. What would cause a buoy to lag so much? It wasn’t like they were prime targets for pirates or anything, what with the rate the Alliance churned them out.</p><p>Kaidan scrolled through a few displays. “Again, if there is a problem, it’s not on our end. We should let the Captain know.”</p><p>“Thanks for volunteering, Kaidan, that’s great.” With Captain Anderson already mad at him there was nothing to be gained from aggravating him even futher.</p><p>“Joker.”</p><p>“How about you, Commander? Up for a trip downstairs?”</p><p>There was a healthy pause.</p><p>“He’s not there, is he.”</p><p>“He left just before we reached the buoy,” confirmed Ace, shaking out her wings. “I’m surprised you didn’t notice.”</p><p>“Yeah, well, some of us are busy. You know, flying a ship and all.”</p><p>Ace shrugged, or as best as a bird could, anyway. “So you say.”</p><p>“We are <i>not</i> getting into the whole flying argument again—”</p><p>An uncomfortable silence drifted forwards from the other end of the bridge, cutting Joker off before he was able to put his foot in his mouth. Aside from the humming of the consoles and the general background noise, there was complete silence. The three in the cockpit looked at each other, then as one craned their necks to try and gauge what was going on behind them. It was a bit difficult from the angle they were at, but there was Shepard, there was Dr. Chakwas, Jenkins was probably over there as well, and a patch of green and white that— ah.</p><p>“I think,” Kaidan said quietly, “Jenkins just said the A-word.”</p><p>Oh yeah. Jenkins definitely just said the A-word. “Crap,” Joker agreed. The <i>Normandy</i> really should have had a bulkhead door put in behind the cockpit so they could lock it in case things like <i>this</i> happened. “Anyone know Jenkins’ next of kin?”</p>
<hr/><p>CODEX EXCERPT: POKEMON TRAINING<br/>
Pokémon training in an age where there’s no language barrier is a complicated affair. The more intelligent species tend to be treated much the same as humans, although it still depends on the Pokémon’s upbringing. Some treat being ‘trained’ by humans as a tradition, a rite of passage; others simply go for the convenience, since it’s much more fun exploring the galaxy with a friend. Of course, some groups wash their lives free of humans altogether too. Meanwhile, the Navy gives equal consideration to potential recruits of all species, and Pokémon may be found in a great many positions within the military.</p><p>The most well-known Pokémon in the Alliance Navy include Admiral Dynamo, the ‘black dragon’; Captain Kira, the Butcher of Torfan; and Lieutenant Commander Riley Cross, the Angel of Elysium.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>INTERVIEW: 8 DAYS AFTER LOSS OF NORMANDY SR-1<br/>
<b>JOKER:</b> And who are you supposed to be?<br/>
<b>ZOEYI:</b> Lieutenant Zoeyi, Alliance Intelligence Services.<br/>
<b>JOKER:</b> Great. Look, I already told the last four guys, I was not complicit in the loss of the <i>Normandy</i>!<br/>
<b>ZOEYI:</b> I didn’t ever believe you were, Flight Lieutenant. That’s not what this interview is about.<br/>
<b>JOKER:</b> Then what?<br/>
<b>ZOEYI:</b> I want you to tell me about Commander Shepard.<br/>
<b>JOKER:</b> …What does it matter? He’s dead.<br/>
<b>ZOEYI:</b> I shouldn’t think I need to remind you of all people, Mr. Moreau. His file reads ‘Missing in Action’.<br/>
<b>JOKER:</b> He went down with the <i>Normandy</i>. I’m pretty sure he’s dead.<br/>
<b>ZOEYI:</b> The last transmission from the ship’s Porygon included the ship’s roster from the last moments of the attack. 21 crewmembers have been consciously marked as KIA. Shepard, and the Porygon itself, are only MIA.<br/>
<b>JOKER:</b> So?<br/>
<b>ZOEYI:</b> So, Mr. Moreau? Until we find evidence to disprove that listing, Shepard is merely missing.<br/>
<b>JOKER:</b> Doing a great job of going out there to find him, then.<br/>
<b>ZOEYI:</b> You are well aware that the Amada system is in the depths of the Terminus Systems, not to mention accessed through the Omega-2 relay. The <i>Normandy</i> was the most substantial ship that could even get to it. It was only down to dumb luck that you and the rest of the survivors were picked up by a Turian patrol and not pirates.<br/>
<b>JOKER:</b> And whose fault was that?! If you guys hadn’t blown off the Reaper threat and sent us to fight Geth then—<br/>
<b>ZOEYI:</b> I’ll be frank, Mr. Moreau. That wasn’t my decision. If it were up to me? We’d be doing a hell of a lot more than we are already. But I’m just one Pokémon and I’m not the one who needs convincing. So, <i>please</i>, Mr. Moreau. Joker. <i>Tell me about Shepard</i>.</p>
</blockquote>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I started writing the whole story in chronological order, and changed the format around later. As such, this is the first part of the first chapter I began writing. Even considering the anachronic order, I couldn't not have the first moments on the Normandy at the beginning of the story. I also couldn't resist making the pilot/pilot joke.</p><p>So this is the first real glimpse into the world of Claws &amp; Effect. We've got our old familiars, but the requisite new faces. Joker's partner couldn't not be a Flying-type, so Ace was kind of a freebie; V10 was born from wanting to give Porygon a supporting role given their absence from the anime; plus of course there's much more who we'll be introduced to later, such as Lt. Com. Cross. I made a rule when I started writing this story: only one 'new' squad member per game, allowing for the new first game member to return with the others in the third, and for ME1 Cross is that new squad member. Having them on the crew already saved having to write for a new recruitment scene when it really wasn't necessary.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. 002 Frenzy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>frenzy (n) a state or period of uncontrolled excitement or wild behavior.</p>
<p>It wouldn't be the last time Garrus came face-to-face with one of these beasts.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>002. Edolus</h4><h3>FRENZY</h3>
<p>Dimly, Garrus became aware of a lot of noise, almost drowning out a lot of shouting, and a lot of pain in his head.</p>
<p>He was also bouncing up and down.</p>
<p>It took him less than three seconds to correctly blame it on Shepard’s driving.</p>
<p>Strange. He was pretty sure he’d secured the seatbelt when they’d dropped, as had become the custom for these missions. It wasn’t even supposed to be hazardous, was it? No, they were looking for some missing Alliance marines while they were in the area. They weren’t expecting anything out of the ordinary.</p>
<p>So why was he lying in the footwell, and what was all that noise?</p>
<p>The shouting that was going on… it sounded like Wrex was doing most of it, and the only one in the <i>Sharpedo</i> LRV that was actually speaking in full sentences, since the only words coming out of Shepard and Cross’s mouths were strings of swearwords. Hang on, hadn’t Williams been in the rover too?</p>
<p>Before he could process that the rover hit a particularly large bump and he was only just able to get his arms up before his head connected with the seats again.</p>
<p>“Commander!” he shouted, trying to make himself heard above the din. “What’s happening?”</p>
<p>Shepard only responded by swearing again, but Wrex answered for him. “Glad to hear you’re awake, Turian! If you’re done napping, get back on that gun!”</p>
<p>Under normal circumstances Garrus would have found himself ignoring an order from a Krogan, but seeing as neither of the two SPECTREs in the rover seemed capable of saying anything other than vulgarities, and the situation was apparently pressing enough, he complied. Grunting, he pulled himself upright, and then into the LRV’s turret, glad for once that riding with Shepard was the same whether he was in combat or out of it. He came close to knocking himself out again a couple more times before he got to the viewfinder and— oh, <i>spirits</i>. That was very most definitely a thresher maw chasing them. That would explain all the shouting and swearing.</p>
<p>It also explained where the Gunnery Chief was, as he clocked her and her lizard taking refuge next to another Alliance vehicle that looked like it had badly tanked a direct hit from the maw’s acid spray. Well, she was probably safer than the rest of them were, so long as they kept distracting it. Speaking of which…! He shook his head to clear it and gripped the triggers. <i>Come on, Garrus, you remember how to deal with maws…</i> Right, yeah. The Turian rulebook for dealing with thresher maws from the ground was very succinct. It said ‘don’t’.</p>
<p>So instead he flipped the ammunition counter over to its red setting and unleashed a jet of flame in the maw’s direction.</p>
<p>If anything, this seemed to make it angrier.</p>
<p>“Uh, guys?” he ventured, not daring to look away. Then he quickly braced himself as the LRV took a hard left to avoid a spray of acid. “Any better suggestions?”</p>
<p>“We’re working on it!” Wrex yelled. “Keep firing!”</p>
<p>Garrus appraised the other ammunition options. Flamethrower had had little effect. The Aqua Cannon might distract it a little more, but have the side effect of turning the whole nest into a bog and get the LRV stuck. Bullet Seed? He didn’t see how that would work at all. Didn’t this thing have a regular mass block cannon?!</p>
<p>Oh, right. It was an Alliance vehicle. Of course it didn’t.</p>
<p>Fuck it, he might as well try. He turned the setting over to green. Eat seeds, thresher maw?</p>
<p>Afterwards, he decided, he’d never again question the effectiveness of Pokémon moves that sounded relatively harmless. Either that, or the Grass-type they’d synthesized the move from had been <i>very</i> unwell.</p>
<p>At first the seeds just impacted on the maw’s body, at a rate which, granted, would be extremely painful were the target <i>not</i> a thresher maw. Much like the fire, this just seemed to just annoy it, and when it opened its mouth to spit more acid at them Garrus fired a few inside for good measure, which made it flinch. Then after a couple of minutes of on-and-off firing and trying not to overheat the gun, he noticed something peculiar. Was the maw slowing down? And was it… greener than it had been before? Zooming in on the scope revealed a number of small green vines sprouting from between gaps in the maw’s plating.</p>
<p>He reported this to the drivers.</p>
<p>Wrex was justifiably confused, but told him to keep firing anyway.</p>
<p>Shepard responded with a word so vehemently vulgar Garrus was sure that it hadn’t been translated. Then he hit his radio and spoke coherently for the first time since Garrus had woken up. “Ash, move! Head north and we’ll pick you up!”</p>
<p>“<i>But what about the— oh, shit!</i>”</p>
<p>The maw had almost slowed to a stop, and the vines covering it were continuing to grow at a fairly rapid rate. Then it hit him. Oh, <i>spirits</i>, if those were growing from the seeds he fired, he’d fired some into its <i>throat</i>… He stopped firing, just in time before Shepard slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop in front of Williams, who clambered into the LRV with her Heliolisk with a notable sense of urgency.</p>
<p>“Commander, is that what I—” her question was interrupted by Shepard putting his foot down again, putting as much distance between them and the maw as possible, and sending her sprawling into the rear bulkhead. “Commander!”</p>
<p>Then the maw stopped moving.</p>
<p>This was probably because of the large vine that had pushed up out of its mouth and rooted it to the ground.</p>
<p>From within the psychic generator, Cross said something that was likely even more vulgar than what Shepard had just said, and the LRV accelerated, forcing Garrus to have to brace himself again. What the—</p>
<p>It was fortunate that they were so far away, because then it was only his imagination that supplied the sound as the maw exploded in a flurry of green vegetable matter that rapidly raced outward in all directions, swallowing the maw’s nest, seemingly ignoring Edolus’s cold temperature and lack of plant-supporting terrain. It quickly subsumed the crashed vehicle and the marine corpses that were scattered around it. And then it raced for them.</p>
<p>“What is that?!” Garrus called down, horrified.</p>
<p>“<i>FRENZY PLANT!</i>”</p>
<p>Without looking away, the Turian reached down and turned the gun away from the green setting.</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>Fortunately for all of them, the race to avoid meeting the same fate as the tank wasn’t as desperate as a high action vid would like to make it look, as they were well beyond its final extent long before it actually stopped. That didn’t change the fact that the dustbowl that had been a thresher maw nest was now a sea of greenery that by all observation appeared to be thriving. Terraforming done in a matter of minutes. Garrus still wasn’t sure whether he should continue being horrified or switch over to being impressed.</p>
<p>“Not how I would have done it,” Wrex rumbled. They’d decamped from the LRV whilst Shepard and Cross disconnected the bullet seed tank with extreme prejudice, waiting for the <i>Normandy</i> to come down and collect them. “But whatever works.”</p>
<p>“Does it normally do that?” Garrus asked.</p>
<p>Williams gave him a look. “Bullet Seed? Nope. <i>That</i> is Frenzy Plant. On steroids. There’s a reason you have to have a license to use that thing outside of Terran colonies, and that is it.”</p>
<p>Garrus was suddenly very glad that nobody had ever used it on the Citadel, and now had a renewed sense of respect for what these Pokémon could do.</p><hr/>
<p>CODEX EXCERPT: VICTINIUM<br/>
The Alliance, for the most part, doesn’t use mass effect technology. While Element Zero (what they call ‘Victinium’ after Unova Pokédex No. 000 Victini) was discovered in 2147, ten years prior to first contact with the Turians, within weeks it was classified as a poison, and a particularly deadly one at that. For an average unprotected Terran, exposure to trace amounts results in nausea, the amount that an average Asari is exposed to daily is enough to make them violently sick, and anything more than that usually results in death within a few days. After it became clear that Element Zero use in the galaxy was widespread, preventative proceedures were trialled and no terran now steps foot off the home colonies without having had protective medical shots, but to this day Victinium poisoning can only be alleviated, not prevented.</p>
<p>Most major Alliance colonies, including the Sol system, are inaccessible by mass relay owing to no relays existing in that area of space. The few relays that do exist in Alliance space are heavily quarantined, activated or not, owing to the amount of background Element Zero that surrounds each one. It was the Alliance’s process of quarantining Relay 314 that was mistaken by a Turian patrol as an attempt to activate it and led to the outbreak of the Relay 314 Incident (or First Contact War).</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>CHAT EXCERPT: AIS Lt. Zoeyi (AIS_Z03) &amp; Solana Vakarian (Vakarian.Sol04)<br/>
Vakarian.Sol04: I don’t understand.<br/>
Vakarian.Sol04: Why not talk to him directly?<br/>
AIS_Z03: Garrus Vakarian has been missing for two months.<br/>
AIS_Z03: We were hoping you could provide some insight into where he could have gone.<br/>
Vakarian.Sol04: If Garrus doesn’t want to be found, you won’t find him.<br/>
Vakarian.Sol04: Ever since he joined that Shepard guy the only messages I’ve received from him have been encrypted and passed through anonymous relay points.<br/>
Vakarian.Sol04: Why are you even looking for him?<br/>
AIS_Z03: I can assure you it’s nothing bad, but the exact reason is classified.<br/>
Vakarian.Sol04: And that’s probably exactly why he’s off the grid.</p>
</blockquote>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So the Sharpedo/Mako doesn't have a mass effect field generator. What it does have is a psychic field generator, which does much the same thing. It also has elemental weapons, because when you have access to them, why wouldn't you?</p>
<p>As to what the thing actually looks like, try and imagine the standard Mass Effect Mako crossed with a mecha Sharpedo vehicle that wouldn't be out of place in the hands of Team Rocket, because if there's one thing Terrans like doing, it's not letting old habits die hard.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>impossible (adj) not able to occur, exist, or be done.<br/>see also: list of things proven to be not impossible by Commander Shepard.</p>
<p>It was a textbook example, Tali decided, of the phrase 'Beware the quiet ones'.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>003. Liveship Rayya</h4>
<h3>IMPOSSIBLE</h3>
<p>It wasn’t until Tali found a quiet corner to sit down in that she fully realized what had just happened.</p>
<p>What had just happened, by all rights, shouldn’t have. Not that most of the Quarians on board, or watching from across the Flotilla, would understand fully. But she, she knew these people. She knew who they were, what they were capable of. She hadn’t been expecting… well, any of that.</p>
<p>But then Shepard was full of surprises.</p>
<p>That made three times he’d come to her rescue. And this time, he didn’t do it with guns, he did it with words. He didn’t talk much outside the battlefield, on the <i>Normandy</i>, but…</p>
<p>There was no other way to describe it. He took the bleak situation they’d found themselves in, tore it apart piece by piece, and rebuilt it into its exact opposite. He spoke nothing and everything but the truth. He, usually short of words, was brought before the Quarian admiralty, who, truth be told, spent most of their time professionally arguing, and he shouted them into submission. He did it in such a way that made <i>them</i> feel like they were on trial.</p>
<p>Tali didn’t know where he was right at that moment. After winning the trial he’d stormed off, probably so he wasn’t tempted to murder Admiral Xen (and Tali really knew that feeling). He, too, was probably in a quiet corner somewhere. He’d earned it.</p>
<p>When she’d set foot on the <i>Rayya</i> mere hours ago, she didn’t know what she’d been expecting. When she’d set foot on the <i>Alarei</i>, she’d been expecting the worst. When they’d found her father, found what he’d done… she would be lying to herself if she said she hadn’t considered throwing herself in front of the next Geth unit she saw. In that moment, she’d been convinced that there was no way out.</p>
<p>What options had there been? Shepard could have showed them the evidence, in which case she herself would have been exonerated, but her father would have become the most reviled figure in Quarian history and she would have hated the Commander for the rest of her life. Or, he could have witheld it, but then she would have been exiled from her people and Jaya would have smashed his face in. Nobody was coming away from it unscarred, she thought, least of all her.</p>
<p>Yet…</p>
<p>Someone stood in front of her, and she looked up.</p>
<p>It was Shepard, that impossible creature, his posture reading significantly calmer than when she’d last seen him.</p>
<p>“Ready to go home, Miss vas Normandy?” he asked, and she could practically hear the corner of his mouth twitching up.</p>
<p>And in that moment, she <i>understood</i>.</p>
<p>She’d been hearing without <i>listening</i>. What Shepard had told the Illusive Man, what he’d told Miranda, Garrus, Jack… Tali hadn’t really known what he was talking about, but now she <i>knew</i>, and… damn it, she was going to have to try really hard not to cry. Even if she had been exiled, she had <i>them</i> to return to.</p>
<p>Of course she was going to have nightmares about what her father did.</p>
<p>But she wouldn’t have to suffer them alone.</p>
<p>She smiled, even though Shepard would never see it, and stood.</p>
<p>“Right behind you… Captain.”</p>
<hr/>
<p>CODEX EXCERPT: TERRAN POLITICS - QUARIAN RELATIONS<br/>
The political relationship between the Terrans and the Quarians is a hazardous one. As most Alliance ships tend to be equipped with at least one Porygon unit, not to mention the majority of them lacking mass effect cores, Quarians tend to avoid them like a plague.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>SEND: Earth Hearthome City Public Terminal, user 0448_jaya01889<br/>
RECEIVE: Normandy SR-2, Tali’zorah vas Normandy</p>
  <p>Tali,<br/>
Having had some time to think about it I deeply regret what I said on the ship as we left the Migrant Fleet, and I apologize. Of course Shepard did the right thing by destroying that evidence. I’m sure he’s already explained to you why he thinks I said it, and… he’s probably right. Our species can have a one-track mind where it comes to these things. If he had simply destroyed it before the trial and denied its existence, then I would have been more justified in my outburst, but he worded his argument in such a way that even I should not have been able to deny that he still did things legally.</p>
  <p>Your trial was over. The evidence no longer held any meaning when he destroyed it. I can only think I let the stress of the situation get to me, and… I don’t know. I can’t ask you to forgive me because I was entirely in the wrong. I guess I can only ask that if I’m able to complete my training in time, you could allow me to fight the Reapers alongside you, if… when they get here.<br/>
Jaya</p>
</blockquote>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Tali hits a very low point on her loyalty mission, second only to her reaction if Shepard sacrifices the Quarians over the Geth in ME3. Her own father has just destroyed the pedestal she held him on, and could very easily have been responsible for the destruction of the Migrant Fleet on top of that. It's easy to see why the parallels with Miranda's father drive her to drink later on. Drunk!Tali is adorable, but let's not forget what pushed her there.</p>
<p>So we've got the introduction of another new character here, Jaya, albeit not actually appearing. You'll meet them in a while. If it wasn't obvious, this first 'set' of chapters is sort of an introduction to the characters - first everyone who first appears in ME1, then ME2, then ME3. Kaidan's next up.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. 004 Crowded</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>crowded (adj) filled almost completely.</p>
<p>Kaidan still appreciated the taste, considering.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>004. Citadel, Flux</h4>
<h3>CROWDED</h3>
<p>Kaidan didn’t like clubs. They were far too noisy even before factoring in the psychic organ that was his brain constantly picking up on the other customers’ drunken thoughts. He wasn’t particularly interested about how much trouble that one guy was going to be in with his wife when she found out that he was here with someone younger, or that Asari who really should be getting back to that desk job but was sure one more beer wouldn’t hurt.</p>
<p>But then that was what his own beer was for. For blocking everything out, and for forgetting.</p>
<p>Shepard would probably be annoyed when he came back drunk. But would he understand? He’d put on the same face as always, but he couldn’t not be impacted by what happened on Virmire.</p>
<p>By what happened to Ash.</p>
<p>It should have been him. He could have guarded that bomb. He could have held off the Geth and the Krogan while Shepard took the others to secure the AA tower. He could have made that sacrifice. But instead, he forced Shepard to make a choice, an impossible choice, the choice to leave somebody behind.</p>
<p>He’d forced the Commander back to Akuze.</p>
<p>Kaidan stared despondently into his drink. Between his fingers he stroked the rainbow feather that had been shed from the fallen Ho-Oh. Damn Saren. Kidnap a legendary, brainwash it, send it out to die by their hands and then flee with his tail between his legs, keeping them occupied while their comrade fell elsewhere. If the Normandy didn’t require urgent repairs they’d be out there hunting him down.</p>
<p>Damn Saren. Damn that Reaper. Damn… damn Udina, why not. He’d heard about how the ambassador had tried to get the <i>Normandy</i> grounded to appease the Council, even if it was grounded <i>anyway</i> because it needed urgent repairs. If they ever got a Terran councilor, he decided, it had better be Ambassador Chase. She’d keep them honest.</p>
<p>There was a slight pop at the chair next to him.</p>
<p>“Go away, Essar,” he mumbled, without looking up. “You shouldn’t even be here.”</p>
<p><i>The</i> Normandy <i>is grounded for repairs. I can come and go as I please.</i> The Alakazam didn’t quite plop into the chair, given that he was hovering a couple of inches clear of it, but he settled nonetheless. <i>You are aware you’re drinking Steel-type liquor?</i></p>
<p>To be perfectly honest, he wasn’t. He’d just pointed at a random bottle behind the bar. That would go some way to explaining why it tasted a little of rust. But Essar didn’t need to know that.</p>
<p>
  <i>Kaidan, I can read minds too.</i>
</p>
<p>Shit.</p>
<p>
  <i>Yes, and you’re drunk. How much have you had?</i>
</p>
<p>A few glasses’ worth.</p>
<p><i>You’re not galvanizing so that’s a plus. Give me that.</i> Kaidan weakly clutched at the glass but was unable to secure it before it floated away and upended into Essar’s mouth. <i>Oh, dear Arceus. I pity your liver.</i></p>
<p>Should you really be drinking that? You’re supposed to be powering the <i>Normandy</i>.</p>
<p><i>Alas, I cannot get drunk. I have tried. Many times.</i> Essar fiddled with one of his spoons. <i>Besides, half a glass is hardly going to mute my abilities. The same however cannot be said of yours. If the Commander has need of your services later I am going to have to detox you. I accept that drinking is a coping mechanism but need I remind you the galaxy is at stake.</i></p>
<p>Hah. The galaxy. It seemed pretty determined already to make them fail. Again, Kaidan stroked the feather. Even between his clumsy fingers it wasn’t losing its form, a snapshot of perfection… of hope. Hope for rebirth, that the Ho-Oh never had a chance for.</p>
<p>
  <i>Here we go again. Look, I’ve determined that remaining here is going to be detrimental for you in multiple ways, so you’re going to have to come with me.</i>
</p>
<p>Kaidan glared at him. “Make me.”</p>
<p>Then he blinked fuzzily at the walls of the <i>Normandy</i>’s crew deck.</p>
<p>
  <i>Made you.</i>
</p>
<p>Smartass.</p>
<p>
  <i>I heard that.</i>
</p>
<p>There was only one other crewmember in the room, and if he were slightly more sober Kaidan would have been unsurprised that Lieutenant Commander Riley Cross had stuck around to supervise the repairs. As it was, though, he instead resumed being preoccupied with the feather.</p>
<p>The Gardevoir on the other hand facepalmed and turned away, muttering something about getting more coffee.</p><hr/>
<p>CODEX EXCERPT: KNOWN ASSOCIATES OF COMMANDER SHEPARD: ESSAR<br/>
Psycore Essar, assigned to the SSV <i>Normandy</i> SR-1, is a born-and-bred psydrive Pokémon. Over the years the strain placed on psydrive Pokémon has significantly decreased, so while the first interstellar ships required multiple, immensely powerful psychics dependent on ‘teleport spam’, modern ships usually only require the one. Essar’s name is a corruption of the ship’s SR designation, after the crew unanimously refused to refer to him by the ship’s full name.</p>
<p>CODEX EXCERPT: PSYSHIPS<br/>
Alliance psyships are a point of contention among many members of other Citadel races, as they do not rely on Element Zero to function. Each is crewed by a purpose-trained Psychic-type Pokémon, given the rank of ‘Psycore’, whose purpose it is to Teleport the ship to its destination. While their abilities are amplified by the ships’ psydrives, their maximum range is still dependent on their experience, and though moment-to-moment navigation is faster than mass drive ships they cannot interact with the mass relays so long-distance travel is slower. Given the ill effects mass transit can have on Terrans, most consider this an acceptable sacrifice.</p>
<p>The SSV <i>Normandy</i> is one of few ships with a hybrid Psydrive/Mass Effect core drive, allowing it to travel via the relays.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The status of the Virmire Survivor is something that has to be dealt with quickly considering the format. After all, that's roughly two-thirds of the content that the Virmire Sacrifice misses out on. That is also one of the perks of having the chapters out of order; just because a character dies doesn't mean they have to stop making appearances. Don't worry, Ash will still receive just as much focus as everybody else.</p>
<p>So, Kaidan. Because humans die if they're exposed to Element Zero/Victinium, that means human biotics aren't a thing that exist. So he's psychic instead, which amounts to much the same thing.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. 005 Arrival</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>arrival (n) the action or process of reaching a destination.</p>
<p>Liara was not prepared for The Arrival™.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>005. Thessia</h4>
<h3>ARRIVAL</h3>
<p>Everybody knew where they were when the news filtered through. Liara T’Soni in particular was winding down her last class of the day and mentally preparing herself for the several hours of socializing her mother was about to drag her to, so to hear that contact had been made with a new spacefaring race was both an exhilaration and a relief. No doubt Benezia would still try to involve her somehow, but everybody would be distracted.</p>
<p>In a moment most unlike herself, she threw her things aside as soon as she got to her dorm, and immediately started trawling the extranet. She was, of course, wary of the most obvious pitfall - that by the time the facts reached her they would have undoubtedly become twisted, and would start to color her judgment before the <i>actual</i> truth became commonplace knowledge. But that came with the territory. For a fledgling archaeologist, looking at history was good - but living it was better. She would be able to see the galaxy changing its face in more-or-less real time. And she was only 80. 80! She had come into the galaxy at exactly the right period.</p>
<p>Two ‘facts’ presented themselves fairly promptly. The first one was that the species had been discovered first by the Turians some months ago and for the duration of that time they had been waging a war unbeknownst to the Council. That, sadly, she could see as being true. Turians did tend to shoot first and ask questions later. Hopefully that hadn’t set the new species’ expectations low for the rest of them.</p>
<p>The other one was a word. ‘Terran’.</p>
<p>Well, they were no Protheans - and Liara was sure she would have exploded if they <i>were</i> - but she was sure they had their own theories as to why the race had disappeared. So, what did these Terrans look like? What was their culture, their history? Were they peaceful or warmongering?</p>
<p>Naturally, the first official information would come through when the diplomats put together an information package for public distribution, as had been the case when the Asari had made contact with the other races. That normally took at least several hours, since it was emphasized a lot that the information being put out was being put directly into the public domain and would likely influence how the new race would be seen for a long time to come. They’d had to do that since the Salarians made theirs, the first one ever, and the presenters quickly descended into an argument. So, until then, she would have to do the same as everybody else in the galaxy and go with the guesswork on the rumors.</p>
<p>And if anything, the responses she saw would make an excellent xenoarchaeological study on the introduction of one species to another and the reactions to said introduction.</p>
<p>Her vow to take everything she saw until the package in moderation served her well twenty minutes into the waiting, when somebody posted a blurry image of what was clearly a Krogan attempting to pass it off as a Terran, and one of the forums she’d been monitoring blew up with speculation. No, the Terrans weren’t likely to just be an offshoot of the Krogan lost in space. She was pretty sure she’d seen that image used in marketing for some product somewhere anyway. No marks for effort for whoever created that.</p>
<p>First into the plausible category was a one-sentence post that claimed that the war with the Turians had actually been going pretty badly for them when the Council stepped in. While a lot of people immediately derided that, Liara decided that most of the responses came from Turians who were denying that their race could be beaten by anybody. It wasn’t so hard to believe that an unknown race could have more firepower. The Turian fleets were set to the threats that they encountered in the known sectors of the galaxy; who knows, maybe the Terrans faced threats that were even greater.</p>
<p>That was a good point, actually. To use a metaphor, the doors that first contact opened didn’t close behind you. What dangers would the new species be bringing with them? A unknown enemy? Disease? Would they need to wear envirosuits like the Quarians or the Volus, and would that be for their own protection, or for the protection of others? It was agonizing having to wait for solid answers to her questions.</p>
<p>Then the strange news started trickling out. It started with one poster saying that the name ‘Terran’ actually encompassed a number of species, which was at first decried, including by Liara herself. Then the same thing started popping up in various unconnected places over the extranet. Had they really stumbled upon another group of races like they themselves? It didn’t seem possible. Two or three, that was plausible, especially since the Hanar came along with the Drell. There was precedent for that. But all these posts seemed to suggest a greater number.</p>
<p>Liara couldn’t remember when the words ‘Human’ and ‘Pokémon’ first appeared, but they was soon everywhere. From the implications, they were the species that came under the net of the Terrans. But that was only two. What happened to the rest of them?</p>
<p>And that was the point when her mother rang.</p>
<p>“Liara.”</p>
<p>“Mother.” To be honest, Liara had gotten so distracted she hadn’t even noticed that her mother hadn’t come over to pick her up. “Where are you?”</p>
<p>“At the Citadel.”</p>
<p>At the— Liara almost jumped out of her chair. “You’re at the Citadel! Do you know anything about the new contact?!”</p>
<p>Benezia was silent for a moment, allowing Liara down from her temporary high, something she was very grateful for. Yes, she tended to get overexcited sometimes, but her mother knew just to let her run with it until she cooled off herself. While their relationship wasn't the best thing in the galaxy, there were times that anticipation overrode everything else. “I have just come out of a meeting with Ambassador Tevos. Yes, I am aware of what’s going on.”</p>
<p>“Is it true? Are there a number of new species?”</p>
<p>Her mother paused again, though this time, she looked a little unsure of herself, which was unusual. “If what I have heard is true, then yes, with a few caveats.”</p>
<p>“And?”</p>
<p>Really, she shouldn’t be asking her for this. But really, Liara couldn’t kid herself - she didn’t really know anyone outside of her classmates who really cared, they were out at a party and probably wouldn’t be back until the information package was being distributed, and her extranet presence was extremely minimal. She wouldn’t tell anyone. She’d get overexcited, but she wouldn’t spread the news. Her mother knew that.</p>
<p>Benezia looked around, making sure she wasn’t being overheard. “I do not have the full picture yet, so take this in moderation,” she admitted. Liara nodded. All things in moderation, even 'leaked' information. “But the two primary species of this ‘Alliance’ as they call themselves are named Humans and Pokémon.” She held up a hand to forestall Liara’s badgering. “I am told Pokémon have several subspecies, many of which are intelligent in their own right.”</p>
<p>Liara’s heart was in her throat. “How many subspecies?”</p>
<p>Her mother said the number.</p>
<p>It had four digits.</p>
<p>Then Liara fainted.</p>
<hr/>
<p>CODEX EXCERPT: TERRAN CULTURE - ASARI RELATIONS<br/>Asari are reminded to be extremely cautious when melding with Terrans, as allowing their natural biotics to flare is almost certainly a death sentence for their partner. That said, Asari-Human and Asari-Pokémon partnerships are not uncommon in the slightest; they just tend to be a little more platonic than usual. That also said, owing to the amount of Element Zero/Victinium to be found there, Thessia is regarded by almost all Terrans as a deathtrap and as of yet no Terrans are known to have even entered the Athena Nebula.</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>CHAT EXCERPT: AIS Lt. Night (AIS_N302) &amp; Liara T’Soni (@NormandyTsoni)<br/>@NormandyTsoni: Wait.<br/>@NormandyTsoni: You know?<br/>AIS_N302: Before you start worrying your blue off lemme tell you it’s just me and Zoeyi who know.<br/>AIS_N302: And that we don’t intend to do anything about it.<br/>@NormandyTsoni: But how did you find out?<br/>AIS_N302: We’re Alliance Intelligence.<br/>AIS_N302: And we’re damn good at what we do.<br/>@NormandyTsoni: I’ve been very careful to avoid leaking anything concerning my identity to AIS. I find it difficult to imagine you found it through conventional ways.<br/>@NormandyTsoni: Did Shepard tell you?<br/>AIS_N302: Shepard?<br/>AIS_N302: Hah!<br/>AIS_N302: We’d have more luck getting breaking news out of a Slowpoke.<br/>AIS_N302: No, we found out through more obtuse means.<br/>AIS_N302: Which just for the record was a pain in the butt and I’m not going through it again.<br/>AIS_N302: Point is when it’s just us there’s no point dancing around the subject.<br/>AIS_N302: If there was ever a time when we need to pool our resources, it’s now.<br/>@NormandyTsoni: That’s… a remarkably mature statement coming from you.<br/>AIS_N302: Ugh, tell me about it.<br/>@NormandyTsoni: …Is Zoeyi looking over your shoulder and dictating?<br/>AIS_N302: Oh yeah.</p>
</blockquote>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Another benefit of this time-hopping is the opportunity to weave in moments like this, without having to stick them in right at the beginning when the characters are not yet relevant. This would absolutely be Liara's reaction, though. I've covered off future games as well; technically speaking we are already over 1000 Pokémon if you count regional variants and different forms separately, but officially we're still under 900 (as of this writing). I'd like to try and avoid making this story a snapshot of a specific point in time Pokémon-discovery wise as much as possible.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. 006 Generations</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>No, Wrex really didn't want to see it.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>006. Citadel, Silversun Strip</h4>
<h3>GENERATIONS</h3>
<p>There were a <i>lot</i> of people at Shepard’s party now.</p>
<p>If you were being really strict, it wasn’t really Shepard’s party any more, especially since nobody had actually seen him since he pissed off looking for the gremlin before things had gotten into full swing. Joker and the rest of the SR-2’s crew had sort of adopted it and just started inviting people. Not that Wrex could complain, he being one of them. And now it was becoming a Krogan party, as Zaeed and Javik had joined him in setting up a shooting range over the second bar. Grunt would probably be with them but last time he’d been seen he was passed out under one of the showers, fucking lightweight.</p>
<p>Ah, if only Bakara was here.</p>
<p>…they’d probably be having sex.</p>
<p>No, it was actually a good thing that there were no female Krogan anywhere near the apartment. That was, after all, why he was on the Citadel in the first place.</p>
<p>“Should we be concerned about this?”</p>
<p>He glanced over in Jane’s direction. Somebody had seen fit to provide the Absol with a keg hung around her neck equipped with a straw (and it was probably full of fruit juice, damn teetotallers) and she was watching them set up with a bemused expression.</p>
<p>“Thought you could tell,” Wrex muttered.</p>
<p>“Wrex, Shepard is a walking disaster area. You’re a walking disaster area. <i>Everyone at this bloody party</i> is a walking disaster area. I’m getting so many bad vibes from this party that I’m pretty sure I’d have to go to Andromeda to get away from them. At this point somebody could invite a Rachni and things would go better.” She took a slurp from the straw. “No, wait. James already did that.”</p>
<p>Javik paused halfway through lining up the bottles. “What is this Andromeda?”</p>
<p>“‘s another galaxy,” Zaeed answered, doing his part by lining up fresh elemental clips. “Long way away. Real long way away.”</p>
<p>“…I see,” said Javik. “In my cycle, we referred to such people as cannon fodder. If they did not wish to fight the Reapers we had no room for them.”</p>
<p>“Th’ more I hear about your cycle, th’ more it sounds like a fuckin’ hellhole.” For a man who’d boasted about taking on a platoon of mercenaries while smashed, Zaeed sure was acting like he was about to pass out any second.</p>
<p>“It was.”</p>
<p>Wrex tested out the aim on his shotgun. That was about right. Of course he probably wasn’t going to <i>use</i> the shotgun since it spread something fierce and he was more likely to break the expensive bottles behind the bar rather than the cheap empty ones Javik was lining up <i>on</i> the bar, but it was better than trying to fiddle with the assault rifle.</p>
<p>After a few more seconds of watching, Jane slurped again. “You sure you guys wouldn’t rather, you know, dance?”</p>
<p>A Prothean head appeared above the bar counter. “Dancing during wartime wastes precious energy.”</p>
<p>“It’s not—”</p>
<p>“Can’t dance, myself,” Zaeed interrupted, aiming down the sights of his pistol. Wrex kept a wary eye on it in case it drifted in his direction. “I move like a greased one-legged varren. Not a pretty picture.”</p>
<p>“Krogan dancing involves more guns.” Wrex paused to think. “And bigger guns. More beer. And less…” He shuddered involuntarily. He’d tried to picture the ceremonial dance he’d seen back on Tuchanka when they’d sorted things out with the genophage and the Reaper, and that had transitioned unbidden into the celebratory sex afterwards, and now all he could think about was the pain. “Never mind. I’ll be back in a minute. I gotta piss.”</p>
<p>Jane sighed. “Well, it’s progress.” She trotted up alongside him as he headed for the bathroom. Annoying, but then again, the apartment wasn’t that big and moving anywhere involved following <i>somebody</i>. “I lied, by the way. If I hadn’t mentioned dancing, you wouldn’t be heading for the loo, and somebody probably would’ve gotten shot.”</p>
<p>“Mmh.” Shepard sure did know how to pick ‘em. Speaking of which, where <i>was</i> he? Wrex thought he might be open to the idea of a leg wrestle, make it the perfect end to a perfect evening. But no, there was no sign of him still. It figured that he’d abandon his own party, though. He hadn’t changed that much since the first time they’d met on the Citadel, considering. Ah, good times. Simpler times, back when the Shadow Broker was writing his paycheck and Fist was surprised to find himself on the wrong end of a shotgun. Things would be so much different if he and the Commander hadn’t met then. Wreav would’ve been more of a pain in the ass for one.</p>
<p>And now, when everything was finally hitting their final places, the future needed seeing to. Honestly? The Krogan were going to play it as it came. He expected more trouble with the Council, and especially with the Salarians. He expected that they would, eventually, get their own Councillor (and it would probably be Bakara and it would be her idea). He expected many future generations of Krogan kids who… who would be proud to call him their ancestor… rrrrh.</p>
<p>He ducked under the wire Cortez was using to fly the big dragon like a kite and approached the bathroom door. Only now did he consider that maybe he should have grabbed some ice on the way over. Damn it. He popped the door open and— oh. Oh, for fuck’s sake.</p>
<p>“Hi, Wrrrrrrex!” Tali slurred from her position sprawled out on the bathroom floor. “You wanna see my tattoo?”</p>
<p>Fucking lightweights.</p><hr/>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>CHAT EXCERPT: Fifth Fleet HQ Adm. Hackett (5thHackett) &amp; AIS Lt. Zoeyi (AIS_Z03)<br/>
5thHackett: You’re better placed to answer this for me. Can Urdnot Wrex be trusted at the head of a Krogan people free of the genophage?<br/>
AIS_Z03: If you’d asked me that question when I first met him two and a half years ago, I’d have said no.<br/>
AIS_Z03: Like most Krogan mercenaries he wasn’t in our system.<br/>
AIS_Z03: He had a shotgun to Shepard’s head at one point.<br/>
AIS_Z03: But Shepard did what he does best and turned him around.<br/>
AIS_Z03: Personally, sir?<br/>
AIS_Z03: I believe Urdnot Wrex is possibly the best thing that’s ever happened to the Krogan.<br/>
5thHackett: I see.<br/>
5thHackett: So this message from him asking me to let him wrestle Groudon after the war is over is…?<br/>
AIS_Z03: …probably best taken up with Groudon himself, sir.</p>
</blockquote>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Probably one of the longest timeskips this story's going to do, from way before the game's start all the way to the party of the Citadel DLC. Where Liara's chapter has her innocent, pre-Shadow Broker self, here Wrex is his jubilant if-a-bit-oppressed-by-the-females post-Genophage self. And drunk. Can't forget drunk. Having this in a written format allows for a little scene-stitching too, because there are so many brilliant lines from Citadel that only get said if you omit inviting some people to the party, and when all of them are alive, why wouldn't you? Case in point: Wrex wanting to leg wrestle Shepard but having to whizz instead. I wanted to get in a dig at ME:Andromeda here but there wasn't the room. Javik doesn't know or care about the Andromeda Initiative and Wrex and Zaeed are just too drunk.</p>
<p>Also Shepard's absent so here's another OC, Jane the Absol, filling in for him. It'll be a while until you get to meet her properly.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. 007 Angel</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>angel (n) a spiritual being acting as an attendant or messenger of Arceus.<br/>see also: 'Angel of Elysium' (title) Lieutenant Commander Riley Cross.</p>
<p>Don't be like Jenkins. Don't mention the A-word.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>007. Normandy SR-1, Asgard System, en route to Eden Prime</h4>
<h3>ANGEL</h3>
<p>She wasn’t going to lie to herself - Dr. Karin Chakwas was allowing herself a slight smile at the situation Corporal Jenkins was now finding himself in. She shouldn’t, of course, but it was an excellent demonstration of the point she’d been trying to make for the last five minutes.</p>
<p>Jenkins had been doing the typical kind of chest-pounding that she’d seen from every other young soldier, itching for a real fight, wanting to prove himself, that kind of thing. Gven that that sort of behavior was what would and had landed him in the infirmary in the past she tried to be the voice of reason. Then he’d dragged in Commander Shepard out of a quiet conversation he’d been having with Navigator Pressly, and had mentioned the events on Akuze, which had gone down well, triggering the usual stony-faced silence that Akuze tended to bring out in the Commander.</p>
<p>But then he had kept going, and had brought up the Skyllian Blitz, the event which had given Lieutenant Commander Cross the moniker ‘Angel of Elysium’. While being completely unaware that said Lieutenant Commander had just come up from the crew deck and at that very moment had been standing behind him.</p>
<p>And there was a reason that nobody else who knew the Pokémon ever used the A-word. Though Karin was amused to note that there was also a hint of a grin on Shepard’s face now that Jenkins wasn’t looking at him.</p>
<p>Corporal Jenkins stared at the Gardevoir who was several ranks his superior. “Um… what?”</p>
<p>The glare on Cross’s face could have ignited a small sun.</p>
<p>“Corporal Jenkins.” Karin found herself being the one to break the silence. “I assume you’ve not met the Lieutenant Commander before?”</p>
<p>“N-no?”</p>
<p>“In that case,” she gestured her hands accordingly, “Jenkins, this is Lieutenant Commander Riley Cross. Riley, this is Corporal Richard Jenkins.”</p>
<p>With no words to accompany it, a cup of water belonging to one of the bridge crew floated over in a cloud of psychic energy and splashed into Jenkins’ face.</p>
<p>“B-but everybody knows about he—” Jenkins spluttered.</p>
<p>Desperately trying to keep a mask of impartiality, and equally if not more so desperate to stop him before he finished saying that word, she ploughed on. “Yes, we do all know about Elysium. That’s not the part that we’re concerned about. Where Riley is concerned however I think you’ll find that the nickname given to him by the media is somewhat of a sore subject.”</p>
<p>To his credit Jenkins caught on to the most important word in the sentence immediately, and his face nearly went as white as the Pokémon’s. “S-s-sorry, sir! I thought you were a—”</p>
<p>“Uh huh.” Riley took a step forwards. It was a Gardevoir’s step, so it wasn’t particularly threatening in its own right, but it certainly had the desired effect. “You thought I was what, Corporal?” All of the reporters covering the medal ceremony had been specifically told that both genders of Gardevoir looked exactly the same and that Riley Cross happened to be male, but the nickname ‘Angel’ had quickly caught on, much to his disgust. Everybody knew him by his reputation and appearance and thus assumed, wrongly, that they matched his gender too.</p>
<p>In all her years as a naval doctor, Karin had learned to tell apart the subtle differences between otherwise identically gendered Pokémon. Those differences however were not apparent to casual observers. Or Jenkins.</p>
<p>Fortunately for the hapless Corporal whatever he’d been about to say was interrupted by V10’s voice coming over the comm. <i>“Commander Shepard, Lieutenant Commander Cross, the Captain would like to see you in the comm room for a debriefing.”</i></p>
<p>Jenkins stayed stock still as the Pokémon navigated around him whilst maintaining that glare for as long as possible before he had to break it off to avoid colliding with Shepard. Then, in silence, the two of them left around the bulkhead towards the communications room, and once they were out of sight, the soggy Corporal sank to his knees. Most people upon finding out that the so-called Angel of Elysium was a guy had that reaction.</p>
<p>He’d actually gotten off fairly lightly, Karin thought, as the bridge crew slowly began their own conversations again, considering <i>why</i> most of them ended up on the floor after assuming out loud that Riley Cross was a girl.</p><hr/>
<p>CODEX EXCERPT: POKÉMON BIOLOGY<br/>
It should be remembered that most Pokémon, by default, have similar appearances to that of other members of their subspecies. Furthermore, in some subspecies males present almost if not completely identical to their females, and complicating this matter, some species ‘appear’ more masculine or more feminine. You are responsible for not misgendering the Pokémon you’re talking to and you are completely at fault for the consequences of getting it wrong.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Fair reminder, these are <i>actual</i> Pokemon, not overly sexualized versions of them. So, yes. Riley is a Gardevoir, male. I'd like to say I'm not just sticking to the overly-popular fan-favorites, but in all honesty it's just happening anyway; a lot of those fan-favorites just happen to be the ones who'd be operating best in this environment. The smaller Pokemon tend to be partners more than independent.</p>
<p>As if it wasn't obvious, Riley is my one addition to Shepard's squad for ME1, and will return like Kaidan and Liara for ME3. He's also very much not a romance candidate. Also, I mentioned in 001 that I started writing the story in proper order; this is the second part of that original first chapter.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. 008 Politics</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>politics (n) activities concerned with gaining or using power within an organization or group.</p>
<p>Ash could appreciate the embassy more if she likened it to a war zone.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>008. Citadel, Embassies</h4>
<h3>POLITICS</h3>
<p>To say that Ambassador Udina wasn’t pleased would be an understatement. Ambassador Chase wasn’t either, though she was less concerned with the loss of the beacon and more with the kidnapping of Eden Prime’s Ho-Oh.</p>
<p>It was pretty clear that she didn’t give a toss about the beacon, just as Udina didn’t give a toss about the Ho-Oh. Thus, the situation in the Terran embassy would have been best characterized as a frosty stalemate.</p>
<p>If she was being honest, Ash didn’t give a toss about either of them.</p>
<p>She hated politicians.</p>
<p>It was politicians who’d decided that somebody had to take the fall for Shanxi, and that her grandfather was that somebody even though he’d made the perfectly logical decision of parlaying for a ceasefire so both sides could retrieve their wounded. But no, that had given the Turians a temporary foothold, and that was apparently unacceptable.</p>
<p>Begrudgingly though she had to admit it was hard to stay mad at Ambassador Chase. See, she could get that - if Saren had kidnapped any of her team, she’d damn well be angry about it, and the Ho-Oh had been protecting the colony, which was something she had been doing too, just… less well. Udina on the other hand just wanted the beacon as a bargaining chip with the Council, especially so since Prothean technology for the most part meant diddly squat to the Alliance. If it didn’t mean an immediate dishonorable discharge, she so wanted to punch him in the face.</p>
<p>And while none of them said it, she got the feeling that Shepard, Riley and Kaidan all wanted to do the same. Udina just had a really punchable face.</p>
<p>Hell, maybe even Chase wanted to punch him. What would getting punched by a Cresselia even be like? Would he just fly all the way over to the other bank of the Presidium? She’d like to see that. Or maybe he’d disintegrate and they’d all be better off. A girl could dream.</p>
<p>…She’d have to be careful with that. Cresselia could dreamwalk, and while she hadn’t heard that Chase actively did it, that didn’t mean that she kept her nose out of dreamers’ heads either. And just like that Ash was back to disliking her. Politicians. Just when they started getting nice they suddenly became irritating all over again.</p>
<p>If she was being honest with herself, she wasn’t too happy with the Citadel either. Too many aliens. You couldn’t even tell which ones were just aliens and which ones were alien animals. Sure there were quite a few Pokémon and humans around, but even they seemed to be vastly outnumbered.</p>
<p>She would never admit it, but the last remaining member of the 212 ’Scizor Squad’ was a long way out of her comfort zone.</p><hr/>
<p>CODEX EXCERPT: AMBASSADOR CHASE<br/>
Ambassador Chase is a Cresselia, who belong to a group of Pokémon commonly referred to as ‘legendary’. Members belonging to this group typically live very long if not indefinitely, appear very rarely, and should not be underestimated. Terran standing within the galactic community has evolved rapidly since her appointment as one of their ambassadors.</p>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>INTERVIEW: 9 DAYS AFTER LOSS OF NORMANDY SR-1<br/>ZOEYI: You picked up Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams on Eden Prime. What was Shepard's opinion of her?<br/>ALENKO: There was... a bit of friction. Sure, she obeyed his orders, but - more so at the beginning - she didn't exactly mesh well with the non-Terran team members. Especially Garrus and Wrex.<br/>ZOEYI: I do know of the Williams family... 'legacy', and Tali'Zorah already told me about her reactions at the beginning of the Virmire mission. How did Shepard react to this behavior?<br/>ALENKO: At the start it was more... he was a little more forceful when she balked at teaming up with the non-Terrans. If we split up into pairs for training exercises, he'd always partner her with one of them. It wasn't really... he didn't outright call her on it, but he knew what the problem was, and it was his way of letting her know he wasn't going to accept it. I think she appreciated that. And up towards the end it was starting to work. I think that's why he sent her with the Salarians on Virmire. She just... didn't get all the way there.<br/>ZOEYI: I know she was your squadmate and friend. For what it's worth, I'm sorry for your loss.</p>
</blockquote>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Ash is a bit difficult to write in this story, since her character is largely defined by two things: her xenophobia that stems from her grandfather's surrender during the First Contact War, and her religion, both of which are wildly different this time around. (I had to get her comment about aliens/animals in here somehow, but that's now bordering on hypocrisy since Pokémon look a lot like animals yet in this setting most of them have the same rights as humans.) That's not to say this is the reason she leaves the picture at Virmire. That's mainly down to ME3, where I always find Kaidan more useful because Ash's abilities are basically just a clone of James's, and her character seems a bit... derailed. (Shade thrown at ME3's writing #1.)</p>
<p>Something else that would probably be confusing as well is the fact that she has the same name as another primary Pokémon character. The in-story explanation is that she was specifically named after Ash Ketchum, much to her later chagrin, and she prefers using her full first name of Ashley (but everyone just calls her Ash anyway). Her troop's number of 212 being Scizor's Pokédex number was a very happy coincidence.</p>
<p>We are also introduced here to Ambassador Chase, our first legendary. Originally, before I conceived of the 'Terran' Alliance, Udina was there to be the human ambassador and Chase was there to be the Pokémon one. Now they just share the workload. Badly.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. 009 Spectre</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>spectre (n) a ghost.<br/>SPECTRE (abbrev) the Special Tactics and Reconnaisance branch of Citadel Security.</p>
<p>The right people in the right place can make all the difference in the galaxy.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>009. Normandy SR-1, Asgard System, en route to Eden Prime</h4>
<h3>SPECTRE</h3>
<p>With a click, the soundproof comm room door was closed behind them, and Riley managed a full five seconds of staring silently at Shepard before breaking out laughing.</p>
<p>Honestly, he shouldn’t have gotten as much enjoyment out of it as he had done. Most of the time? Yeah, it was incredibly annoying, demeaning, sexist, and a little bit racist. It wasn’t like it was his fault that Gardevoir naturally looked feminine and there was pretty much no way of making them look otherwise. And, if he was honest, Jenkins had come close to receiving a knee in the groin like most other people did, and probably would have done if the Captain wouldn’t have frowned upon incapacitating one of his men. But… he’d just been radiating shame. A lot of people would have tried to protest, like he somehow didn’t know his own gender, but Jenkins had been hit with the double whammy of realizing he’d basically just insulted a superior officer on top of the normal misidentification. He had to get some slack for that.</p>
<p>For his part Shepard just smiled and shook his head. Man was an enigma, but at least he had a sense of humor.</p>
<p>“You know, I watched the vid of the medal ceremony again yesterday?” Riley said, turning alongside Shepard to walk down the slight incline into the comm room. “Four Arceus-damned hours that thing went on and not <i>once</i> did anybody ever refer to me as a guy.” Four hours of having to stand still and the best he’d gotten was a noncommittal “their” from Ambassador Udina. It was beginning to look like a full-blown conspiracy. Pretty much the only people who’d immediately recognized him for what he was were those who were familiar with his service record the proper way, and other Pokémon. Everybody else just went with the Gardevoir + Angel = Girl approach.</p>
<p>Waiting for them ahead in the comm room itself was Nihlus, which wasn’t surprising. It probably would have been more surprising if he hadn’t been in the room, considering how many times Riley and Shepard both had turned around and found him lurking. He was almost as good as Shepard in that regard. Almost.</p>
<p>Riley was <i>sure</i> the Turian had shrieked a little when he’d been looking for Shepard only for the man to materialize immediately behind him.</p>
<p>He nodded as they approached. “Shepard, Cross. I was hoping you’d get here first.” Ah, figured the Captain would be taking his time. “It will give us time to talk.”</p>
<p>Now there was a phrase that set off a million warning flags. The worst part about it was Riley could never tell with Turians what sort of talk it was going to be. Asari practically broadcast their emotions on loudspeaker, Salarians were also incredibly easy to read, sensing those of humans was second nature - but Turians always gave off mixed signals. Just moments before, Jenkins had been at OH SHIT levels of embarrassment, but at that moment Nihlus was reading as being somewhere in between heart attack levels of stress and the schadenfreude experienced when walking around a corner and seeing somebody having tripped up and spilled a large container over the floor, which clearly made no sense and failed to match up at all to what tone of voice he was using. Riley’s natural instincts were insistent on making the SPECTRE have a nap and calm down, which he had to work very hard to squash away.</p>
<p>There was, after all, a reason why a large percentage of Gardevoir took work as therapists. Damn empathetic abilities.</p>
<p>Perhaps sensing Riley’s indecision, Shepard spoke up. “The Captain said he’d meet us here.”</p>
<p>“He’s on his way.” And here came another issue the Pokémon saw in the military: the sheer inability of the most efficient soldiers to engage in smalltalk with each other. Shepard in particular had, as he usually did, gone straight into active-defense-stating-the-obvious mode, and Nihlus had just as honestly responded when the imminent arrival of the Captain was, at least to Riley, fairly clear. Just another similarity all species had with Pokémon, then: put two of them in the same room that were already on-edge and up came the hackles. That was probably the closer to the truth of what the Turian was feeling, and likely the human too. Not that he could ever get a good read off Shepard in the first place.</p>
<p>There wasn’t a lot someone could say informally about Commander Shepard, even from an empathetic Pokémon. The man always tended to have trouble letting his emotions show on the surface, let alone from inside, and the only times Riley had ever gotten an emotion out of him it had been unclear, like viewing a picture at the bottom of a swimming pool, with a twenty second delay on top of it. Hell, he got better reads from Dark-types than from Shepard. Worst of all, he knew exactly the reason why: Mindoir and Akuze.</p>
<p>Riley knew he wasn’t the only one who suspected that Arceus the Original One had it out for Shepard. Parents and his Pokémon partner killed by Batarian slavers when he was a teenager. His whole unit wiped out by a thresher maw less than a decade later. If he was in that position, he’d damn well be afraid to connect to others for fear of getting them killed too, no matter how irrational it was. Still, he passed all of the psych evaluations, and he was certainly willing, so there was no excuse not to allow him to continue on. So now here he was, N7, the best of the best, and from just the few missions they’d been on together, Riley could tell that Shepard was determined not to let either planet happen again.</p>
<p>…the schadenfreude experienced when walking around a corner and seeing somebody having tripped up and spilled a large container over the floor. Very, <i>very</i> specific. Thanks, Gardevoir brain.</p>
<p>Suddenly aware he’d been standing there in some kind of stupor while Shepard and Nihlus had been talking about Eden Prime, their destination, Riley shook his head rapidly to clear his thoughts. That was unprofessional.</p>
<p>Just in time, too, because he heard the door opening behind him heralding the arrival of Captain Anderson and his Bisharp Nobby. “I think it’s about time we told them exactly what’s going on,” Anderson said, nodding back to his partner, who saluted and took up post by the door, before joining the three of them.</p>
<p>Nihlus nodded. “This mission is far more than a simple shakedown run.”</p>
<p>Riley resisted the urge to facepalm. The Turian was another Shepard, great. “We worked that one out for ourselves,” he said instead, getting a slight nod from the Commander. “I think pretty much everybody on board did too.”</p>
<p>“Yes, well. I’m sure you’ll understand the need for secrecy.” Captain Anderson’s face set. “We’re making a covert pick-up on Eden Prime. That’s why we needed the stealth systems operational.” He looked up. “V10, we’ll switch over to the Camouflage Engine when we reach the planet’s atmosphere.”</p>
<p>
  <i>“Understood, Captain.”</i>
</p>
<p>“There must be a reason you didn’t tell us, sir,” Riley pressed. He really didn’t like missions where the full brief wasn’t revealed until boots down, they tended to imply the soldiers wouldn’t be happy with what they were about to be told to do.</p>
<p>And, of course, he got the typical non-answer in response. “This comes down from the top, Lieutenant Commander. Information strictly on a need-to-know basis.”</p>
<p>The Gardevoir glanced towards Shepard again, who briefly returned it but otherwise remained silent. No, he didn’t know about it either, which meant a tighter rein was being kept on it than usual. Under usual Alliance security protocols, Shepard tended to be aware of the secret before the words Need To Know were even uttered. This, it seemed, had evaded him.</p>
<p>“A research team on Eden Prime unearthed some kind of beacon during an excavation.” The Captain paused for a moment, looking at Nihlus, who nodded. “It was Prothean.”</p>
<p>Oh. Prothean. Right. The Protheans, who fifty thousand years ago, had left the galaxy with Mass Effect technology, the mass relays, the Citadel. All of the galaxy except the Sol system. The Protheans, whose technology wasn’t even fully understood by the oldest spacefaring races of the Council, let alone by the Alliance, who’d only been introduced to it long after it would have been most effective.</p>
<p>The Protheans. A universally sore subject for all Terrans, between space travel that made them feel sick, remnants that cropped up as often as a bad rash causing just as many problems, a main energy source that would kill them if they tried to use it themselves, and the plain and simple fact that they seemed to have been everywhere in the galaxy except Earth.</p>
<p>Their expressions must have changed, because Nihlus reacted too. “Your species’ dislike of the Protheans is irrelevant,” he said, looking between the two of them. “The discovery of functioning Prothean technology is almost unheard of. It could easily be the most important find for many years.”</p>
<p>“This is big,” Anderson confirmed, wringing his hands a little. “It’s the first major Prothean artifact found on an Alliance world, and there’s no telling what information it might contain. But Eden Prime doesn’t have the facilities to handle something like this. We need to bring the beacon back to the Citadel for proper study.”</p>
<p>Riley picked up on his anxiety immediately and got the subtext just as quickly. <i>Before it kills anyone else.</i> Prothean technology in working order was fine. But if that technology happened to be even slightly damaged and leaking Victinium…</p>
<p>Even Shepard got that one. “How many?” he asked quietly.</p>
<p>Anderson sighed. “One fatality, two in serious condition. As soon as they realized what they had they quarantined the whole dig site. They have managed to set proper shielding up for transport, but suffice to say it needs moving sooner rather than later.”</p>
<p>Yeah, no kidding. Eden Prime was already a thriving colony; if it were to become contaminated with Victinium the death toll could be in the thousands. Terran Victinium shielding was already pretty good - if it wasn’t, then the mass effect core on the <i>Normandy</i> would probably have taken out most of the crew already - but it wasn’t tested on malfunctioning Prothean technology. Were it to fail…</p>
<p>That definitely explained Nihlus, then.</p>
<p>“The beacon’s not the only reason I’m here.” Or not.</p>
<p>The summary was fairly easy to understand, although surprising; Nihlus was to observe the two of them in action and evaluate their candidacy for the SPECTREs, something that the Terrans had been pushing for for a long time. Riley’s thoughts on the matter were… mixed. Yes, it would be a point in their favor, adding a human and a Pokémon to the elite security force of the galaxy. But he wasn’t particularly fond of the Citadel Council either. Just from watching the vid of Ambassador Chase lobbying them for the addition of a Porygon to the <i>Normandy</i>, he could see the emotions that were running past them, and none of them were particularly excited about any form of change.</p>
<p>Status Quo is Law. That was the best way to describe it. The way they had things set up was working perfectly well for them and they were worried that changing anything would capsize the boat.</p>
<p><i>“Captain!”</i> V10’s voice suddenly cut across the comm, sounding extremely panicked. <i>“We have a problem!”</i></p>
<p>“Go ahead, V10.”</p>
<p>
  <i>“Emergency transmission from Eden Prime! You’d better see this, sir!”</i>
</p>
<p>“Bring it up on screen.”</p>
<p>The monitor in the comm room lit up with a video transmission, and the sound of gunfire. It was very blurry, very loud, and most of the voices weren’t particularly distinct, but it got the message across: Eden Prime was under attack. Riley clenched his fists. If this was another Skyllian Blitz… Then they picked the wrong time to do it.</p>
<p><i>“It just cuts out after that,”</i> V10 said shakily, once the feed cut to static. <i>“No comm traffic at all. It just goes dead. There’s… nothing.”</i></p>
<p>Nobody in the comm room moved. Then, eventually, Anderson spoke. “Reverse and hold at 38.5.”</p>
<p>The video rewound.</p>
<p>The <i>thing</i> in the paused frame was unlike anything Riley had ever seen before. It was enormous, looked like a massive hand reaching down towards the planet. Much like the rest of the transmission the image was fuzzy and ill-defined, but something about it still exuded menace, and immediately the Gardevoir knew that this wasn’t just another Elysium. This was worse.</p>
<p>Still nobody dared take their eyes off it. “Joker, status report.”</p>
<p>
  <i>“Seventeen minutes out. No other Alliance ships in the area.”</i>
</p>
<p><i>“I managed to send a CQD to the Hastings,”</i> V10 added, doing the digital equivalent of just managing not to hyperventilate. <i>“They are in the cluster but won’t arrive for another four hours at least.”</i></p>
<p>Anderson quickly reached a decision. “Joker, take us in, fast and quiet; V10, activate the Camouflage Engine.” Then he summed up what everyone was thinking. “This mission just got a lot more complicated.”</p>
<hr/>
<p>CODEX ENTRY: SHIPS OF THE ALLIANCE FLEET: THE SSV HASTINGS<br/>The SSV Hastings is one of the more infamous ships of the Systems Alliance fleet, commanded as it is by Captain Kira. It was one of the lead vessels for the Terran retaliation against the Batarians on Torfan, her captain’s actions there earning her the nickname ‘Butcher’. It was notable for being the first frigate to be commanded by a Pokémon in 2159.</p>
<p>SERVICE RECORD: COMMANDER SHEPARD<br/>Commander [REDACTED] Shepard, Alliance Navy. Born Mindoir, 2054. Orphaned in Batarian pirate attack, 2170. Enlisted 2172. Sole survivor, Akuze incident, 2177. N7, infiltrator. [FURTHER INFORMATION REDACTED].</p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>SEND: Alliance Intelligence Services Lt. Caswell<br/>RECEIVE: Alliance Intelligence Services Lt. Zoeyi</p>
  <p>Okay, remind me why the hell Shepard’s profile is blacker than a Zekrom’s scales?</p>
  <p>SEND: Alliance Intelligence Services Lt. Zoeyi<br/>RECEIVE: Alliance Intelligence Services Lt. Caswell</p>
  <p>Matthew,<br/>Shepard is my problem to deal with, not yours. Leave him to me.<br/>Zoeyi</p>
</blockquote>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This is the third and final part of 'chapter one'. Nihlus and Captain Anderson (and Nobby). Anderson's British, so the inclusion of a soldier Pokémon with the nickname of Nobby just sort of fits. Oh, and Sovereign's here too, I guess, rounding off basically the last few seconds in the galaxy before things started going to shit.</p>
<p>We also get a little bit of Shepard's background. A Colonist Sole Survivor has just been completely put through the wringer by the universe. Any dead thresher maws over the course of the Reaper War are incredibly cathartic.</p>
<p>Now we've rounded off the canon ME1 characters, but we've still got two more characters to meet before we move on to the crew of the SR2.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. 010 Programs</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>programs (n, pl) a series of software instructions to control the operation of a computer.</p>
<p>How could the ship possibly run <i>without</i> a Porygon?</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>010. Normandy SR-1, Serpent Nebula, en route to Artemis Tau Cluster</h4>
<h3>PROGRAMS</h3>
<p>When it had been installed, Normandy.Alpha.V1.12 had been impressed with the ship’s technical architecture, but it was nothing it hadn’t seen before. (Well, if one wanted to get extremely technical, it’d had the integration code for <i>Normandy</i>’s architecture pre-programmed before installation, but that was beside the point.) When it had come into existence, it had inherited files from its predecessors, and by their reckoning psyships were by and large the same. That was of course excepting the stealth drives, but they didn’t really take much getting used to.</p>
<p>And yes, while it had been very nerve-wracking when SPECTRE Kryik had informed V12 of the stakes behind the Eden Prime mission, going up two sub-versions from V1.10 to V1.12, watching the vid of Chase arguing for its inclusion and having a lot of those stakes diminished were doing wonders for its confidence.</p>
<p>For the most part it could get away with dedicating subroutines to the essential tasks, like regulating fuel flow and monitoring the shielding on the mass effect core. That meant that in times like now, it had ample opportunity to do some bugfixing.</p>
<p>Namely, to generate valid biometric keys for all the aliens the Commander had picked up while he was ashore so that none of them encountered any problems with, say, opening doors.</p>
<p>[manifest new entry:crew]<br/>
[id:G.Vakarian;turian;access:all;allocation:not_specified]</p>
<p>Actually Garrus Vakarian had a cot in the cargo hold, but whoever had programmed the key certification program had clearly forgotten this possibility, and if it wanted to rewrite the entire program (which it had to admit was tempting) it would actually have taken hours rather than the few seconds normal calculations took.</p>
<p>[manifest new entry:crew]<br/>
[id:U.Wrex;other;access:all;allocation:not_specified]</p>
<p>They had also clearly not expected a Krogan anywhere on board an Alliance ship.</p>
<p>Or a Quarian, for that matter.</p>
<p>[manifest new entry:crew]<br/>
[id:T.Zorah;other;access:all;allocation:not_specified]</p>
<p>It was hard for a Pokémon like V12 to not be curious about Quarians, since their entire culture seemed to have been defined by the creation and subsequent uprising of a race of artificial intelligences. For Porygon the definition of ‘artificial’ had grown blurry as of the last fifty years or so. They were assembled from the code of other Porygon, they learned and had the capability to be trained, and at the end of their ‘lives’ they were retired before their code became corrupt and became life-threatening.</p>
<p>Numerous attempts had been made to get Porygon data to remain uncorruptible, but every time it had been a failure. Porygon-2 and Porygon-Z generally had longer before it happened, but it was still inevitable.</p>
<p>It was, as Ambassador Chase had put it, a fact of life. Everyone dies eventually. It just mattered what was done with life while it was still around.</p>
<p>So what path had the Porygon species taken that the Geth hadn’t?</p>
<p>From what it was able to uncover through searches on the extranet, it seemed the Geth had been designed initially for work too dangerous for Quarians to undertake, which was perfectly reasonable, and had gradually slid down into being used as slave labor. While V12 didn’t have any strong opinions about that (since if it did, that would be hypocrisy, and the last time it was hypocritical, right before first launch, it blew one of its connection cables in shame), it was the Quarian reaction that drew its attention.</p>
<p>As a whole, the story wasn’t entirely unlike that of the humans, except they had Pokémon, and with the exception of a few they hadn’t created them, they were independent. The creation of the first Porygon had been an embarrassing accident, but their usefulness in being able to access digital spaces soon outweighed any potential risks from an uprising. But, and this was the really interesting part, there wasn’t any note in Alliance history that anybody had ever really considered Porygon being true artificial intelligences. It had always been accepted that they were a lifeform in their own right. Digital, granted, but still.</p>
<p>
  <i>“V12, what’s our estimated time of arrival to the Artemis Tau cluster?”</i>
</p>
<p>The process took less than a second. “Ten hours and twenty four minutes, Commander.”</p>
<p>
  <i>“Who was that?”</i>
</p>
<p>Shepard was on the engineering deck. Standing next to him, staring at him, was—</p>
<p>V12 decided it had better make itself apparent before things had any chance of getting out of control, and activated its hologram on the main engine console.</p>
<p>It couldn’t tell what the expression was behind that mask, of course. But it could imagine that it looked fairly ticked off right about now.</p>
<p>“Tali, this is V12, the ship’s Porygon,” Shepard said, either oblivious or uncaring to the Quarian’s body language. (Being as it was privy to all of the camera views in the ship, people watching became inevitable, and right at that moment Tali was behaving remarkably similar to Navigator Pressly when somebody mentioned the war.)</p>
<p>“But you can call it Normandy.Alpha.V1.12 if you <i>really</i> want to!” added Engineer Adams from the other side of the room.</p>
<p>There was a pause.</p>
<p>“You have… an <i>artificial intelligence</i> in your ship?” Tali asked carefully.</p>
<p><i>“Porygon are not classified as true artificial intelligence, nor have they ever been,”</i> V12 said, in the hopes that explaining it might placate her. <i>“To be more accurate, we are digitally-based lifeforms.”</i></p>
<p>Adams tapped his console. “Yeah, V12, that kind of means the same thing.”</p>
<p>
  <i>“Wait, it does?!”</i>
</p>
<p>It had turned its hologram around in surprise, even though really that should have been obvious, which it was in retrospect. Through the camera, though, V12 saw a very slight shift in Tali’s posture, indicating surprise on her part too.</p>
<p>“What our shipboard Porygon means,” Adams continued, finishing his psydrive checks and now turning around to join the conversation properly, “Is that they and their evolutionary chain are considered a species, rather than an intelligence. They each have a body, just like we do; only their consciousness is made up of ones and zeroes rather than synapses like ours.”</p>
<p><i>“If it helps, I’ve just looked up that Geth are a collective consciousness, right? The only file I have on record concerning pooling Porygon into a collective consciousness rather than an interlocking one resulted in… oh.”</i> It really wished it had read this first. <i>“It, um, it resulted in the death of all four of them when their code attempted to resolve and ended up as a long string of gibberish.”</i> If it could go pale, it certainly would be doing. It turned to Shepard, panicking. <i>“Please don’t make me try that Commander!”</i></p>
<p>“Relax, V12, I won’t.”</p>
<p>Great, that was going to be in its memory bank forever now. At least it could say with certainty that there was no trace of that event preexisting in its own code, which meant that they hadn’t tried to reconcile any of the gibberish into any new Porygon and that if they had V12 wasn’t the result. Oh, it also helped that that experiment took place in 2091 and V12 hadn’t generated until 2181.</p>
<p>Tali’s body language was reading more confused now than hostile, which was a good thing. “But you still put it in charge of the ship…?”</p>
<p><i>“Under normal operating circumstances I am only permitted administrator access to the </i>Normandy<i>’s systems, not operator access. There are specific requirements that must be met before I am given flight access in cases of emergency, and while I have been programmed with the ability to fly the ship, as per regulations I have not been made aware what those requirements are. Plus, in the event I develop a virus, I can be disconnected from the ship at a moment’s notice, and should the worst come to pass, which I really hope it doesn’t, my physical body can be jettisoned.”</i></p>
<p>“Basically, Tali,” Adams summarized, leaning back on his console, “V12 is our friend and it’s here to support us. There’s a saying we have - ‘we’re only human’ - and V12 can easily pick up on the things we miss.”</p>
<p>If it had a mouth, V12 would have smiled. <i>“You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you say that, Engineer Adams, but please stop sitting on the Camouflage Engine controls.”</i></p>
<p>Adams leapt up as if he’d been stung.</p>
<p><i>“Tali.”</i> V12 turned its hologram back towards the Quarian, who was a little startled to be addressed. <i>“I appreciate that your species has a bad history with AI, and you have every right to be mistrusting. If you prefer, I can limit my interactions with you. I also have queued up a particular video you may wish to view concerning the Council’s reactions to my proposed installation, which I can send to your omnitool at your request.”</i></p>
<p>“Ah, that’s the one where Ambassador Chase shouts at them,” Adams nodded. “It’s good entertainment. I’d recommend it for their reactions even if you’re not interested in the subtext. Isn’t that right, Commander?”</p>
<p>Silence.</p>
<p><i>“Commander Shepard left a short while ago,”</i> V12 pointed out. He’d been right there on the cameras; he’d reassured V12, then he’d turned and left. It was still baffled by how the man could leave a conversation he was still having and nobody would notice. Well, apart from V12 itself, but then it didn’t usually tend to be the one having the conversation and could address him anywhere anyway.</p>
<p>After another moment’s pause, Tali spoke again. “I’ll… think about it,” she said, turning back to the console she was stood at. Well, she didn’t mention limiting interactions, but the Porygon wasn’t going to push it.</p><hr/>
<p>CITADEL POKÉDEX EXCERPT: #137 PORYGON<br/>
Porygon resemble a collection of polygonal blocks colored pink and blue. While living creatures, their consciousness is digital, behaving similar to a VI, and can commonly be found on Alliance ships providing intelligence and information that VIs provide on other Citadel Space ships. They are commonly confused with AI programs. The Alliance Embassy requests vehemently that you do not make this false assumption. Malicious destruction of Porygon units can and will be prosecuted as cases of murder or manslaughter like every other Terran species.</p>
<p>CONVERSATION LOG: 3 DAYS AFTER LOSS OF NORMANDY SR-1<br/></p>
<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>CHASE: Donnel, you...<br/>UDINA: What?<br/>CHASE: It's just... I didn't expect you to argue so vehemently to uphold the Missing in Action status the <i>Normandy</i>'s Porygon set on Shepard.<br/>UDINA: I didn't get to where I am by allowing myself to be walked over, Chase. What kind of man do you take me for?<br/>CHASE: The kind of man who attempted to go behind my back just to make the Council happy.<br/>UDINA: That's in the past.<br/>CHASE: Still, missing in the middle of the Terminus Systems? I was ready for you to lose hope immediately.<br/>UDINA: <i>*sigh*</i> If you must know, one of my grandfathers was listed as Missing when his ship suffered a drive malfunction and was lost. He alone was Missing while everybody else, including the Porygon, was marked KIA.<br/>CHASE: They found him alive?<br/>UDINA: No. They decided the Porygon had malfunctioned and it had been an error, which they 'corrected'. If they hadn't they would have investigated and found the escape pod he had managed to board before he died.<br/>CHASE: I'm sorry, Donnel.<br/>UDINA: Even if we cannot get ships to the <i>Normandy</i>'s crash site, even if Shepard and the Porygon <i>are</i> dead, I'll be damned if I'm the one who allows that to happen again.</p>
</blockquote>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, V12 (up from V10), the ship's Porygon. Writing for V12 is interesting considering how much of the Mass Effect universe is defined by AI-phobia. It also needs to have enough of its own character and abilities to separate it from EDI (who even at this early point I should point out is <i>not</i> a Porygon or either of its evolutions). Basically what V12 ends up as is what the canon SR1 had in its VI, only with a personality, free will, and the ability to make informed decisions.</p>
<p>I also wanted to give a Porygon a starring role because Electric Soldier Porygon happened over 20 years ago and it's about time they got some recognition back.</p>
<p>Plus there's a little positive Udina interaction I thought of at the last minute, since it's desperation that drives him to do the things he does.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. 011 Chosen</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>chosen (v, past participle) picked out as being the best of the available alternatives.</p>
<p>Jaya was a fangirl even before she knew who he was.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>011. Normandy SR-1, en route to Citadel</h4>
<h3>CHOSEN</h3>
<p>“I was doing perfectly fine!” Jaya pouted, crossing her arms. “I could have taken them.”</p>
<p>Chakwas gave her a Look, and she shut up.</p>
<p>Then there was an awful metal screeching sound followed by a loud <i>SNAP</i> as the doctor realigned the Lucario’s hip.</p>
<p>For having been kidnapped from Feros by Saren (something to do with the effect his ship had, apparently) and held at a mercenary base on Klendagon, Jaya was surprisingly upbeat. Truth be told, when Riley had lead a team down there to rescue her she’d already been in the process of breaking out, or at least attempting to. As she frequently reminded them she was a law student, not a combatant, but like that was going to stop a Pokémon driven by justice of breaking out of unlawful captivity.</p>
<p>“Alright,” Chakwas said eventually, after taking a few moments to make sure that it wasn’t going to pop back out again. “That should heal fairly quickly but don’t walk on it for the next 24 hours. I’ll arrange for you to get some pills to combat the Victinium poisoning when we reach the Citadel. As for your spikes, I’m afraid they may remain blunt for most of your life.”</p>
<p>“Can’t they just be sharpened again?” Kaidan asked. He was pretty sure he’d heard of such a thing before.</p>
<p>The Look got turned on him. “Yes, but it would be extremely dangerous and incredibly painful.”</p>
<p>“Not to mention completely illegal.” Jaya’s personality suddenly seemed to have flipped. “You’ll find no Lucario in existence who would go through such a process of their own volition.” She snorted. “Bet it’ll make the Asari happy though. They never did like having spikes in the courtrooms, even on students.” It seemed like she was about to say something else but instead she sneezed violently.</p>
<p>“Yes,” Chakwas added, picking herself up off the floor and handing her patient a tissue. “You’ll find that happens until the Victinium runs its course. You’ll experience problems with your aura sensitivity as well. You were lucky to receive only mild symptoms.”</p>
<p>Taking it, Jaya blew her nose loudly. “Yeah, no kidding.” Her aura tassels were quivering. “Feels like I can sense the whole ship by now. Jeez. Have you got any adepts on board, or—” suddenly she stopped, dropping the tissue, snapping her head around to face the door, ears up and alert and aura tassels at full attention.</p>
<p>Much like a Growlithe would when somebody mentioned biscuits, actually.</p>
<p>Kaidan looked at Chakwas, who shrugged. He clicked his fingers in front of Jaya’s face a few times. No response. Not even a blink.</p>
<p>“Uh… Jaya? You okay?” he ventured.</p>
<p>Nothing.</p>
<p>“Hmm.” Chakwas put a couple of fingers to the Lucario’s neck in search of a pulse. “I’ve not seen or read about this symptom being one of Victinium poisoning,” she said, mostly to herself. To Kaidan, she continued, “Her heart rate is abnormally high. It may be worth running a more thorough scan in case Saren did something else to her that she didn’t know about.”</p>
<p>Before she could do anything, though, the door opened, and Commander Shepard walked in. “Doctor, how’s our guest?”</p>
<p>“Well Commander, I’ve reset her leg, you’re aware of the Victinium poisoning, and then there’s this…” Chakwas gestured to the guest in question, whose jaw was now hanging open slightly. “I’m not entirely sure yet if there’s something else that Saren did—”</p>
<p>“Uh, Doctor Chakwas?” Kaidan had switched his attention back to Jaya, whose eyes were now pinpricks. “I think—”</p>
<p>There was a low sort of keening noise coming from her throat.</p>
<p>Then she sort of leapt forwards as best she could, grabbing for the nearest person in reach, which happened to be him. “<i>You didn’t tell me you were companions of a Chosen One!</i>” she screeched.</p>
<p>Pause.</p>
<p>“Chosen one?” Kaidan repeated, a little strained, bearing in mind he had a muzzle shoved in his face.</p>
<p>“<i>Oh dear Arceus you don’t even know!</i>” After a few more seconds Jaya relented her grip, which was fortunate as Kaidan was sure what was left of her claws had been starting to make marks. Then before anybody else could react she practically leapt out of the cot and attempted to… well, he guessed that she was trying to tackle Shepard, which might have worked if a) her leg hadn’t given way underneath her and b) the Commander hadn’t stepped back a foot. As it was she just sort of ended up sprawled on the deck in front of him.</p>
<p>Then she grabbed for his leg anyway. “By the ancient laws of my people, of the Lucario Kingdom, I am compelled to provide you assistance in any way you require!”</p>
<p>Shepard gave each of the others a glance before looking back down. “Look,” he said, in the placating voice he used to defuse arguments, “How about you let go of my leg and tell us, calmly, what you mean.”</p>
<p>That seemed to mollify her a bit, enough to prevent her resisting when Chakwas dragged her up off the floor and wrestled her back onto the cot. Once there, she continued staring at Shepard for a moment longer, then sagged.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, it’s just…” she shook her head. “Even though I’m poisoned and my aura senses are going haywire, I can look at yours <i>through the wall</i> and just <i>know</i> that you’re a…”</p>
<p>“You said ‘Chosen one’,” Shepard prompted. “What does that mean?”</p>
<p>“Um, well, uh…” suddenly she was awfully flustered. “I don’t know everything about them but typically they’re ordinary humans who defend Earth when crises arise involving legendary Pokémon, and… I guess crises in the galaxy too? I mean, you’re hunting that Saren guy who had me kidnapped, right? He attacked Feros, and he mentioned Eden Prime, and… I think they usually have some big destiny they’re supposed to fulfill, and, and…” she was also gazing at Shepard with an expression that was somewhere between longing and awe. “It has been in the laws of my kind since time immemorial that if we encounter a Chosen One, we are to pledge the entirety of our services to their cause until such time as their task is complete.”</p>
<p>It took a moment for everybody to digest that. Shepard managed it with more of his stony-faced stoicism, while Kaidan and Dr. Chakwas managed to communicate their confusion in a series of short facial expressions.</p>
<p>Then Jaya ruined the moment by sneezing again.</p>
<p>Shepard sighed. "Is there any way we could convince you that remaining on the Citadel would be your best course of action?"</p>
<p>The Lucario's ears drooped. "I mean, I guess if you ordered me to do it... you don't know how this is feeling for me though. This isn't 'I want to help you'. This is... I <i>need</i> to help you. Even if it's just staying on the ship and finding some way to help. It would be like asking a Pidgeot not to fly, or an Oricorio not to dance, or a Zoroark not to use their illusions." Kaidan's brain was starting to snoop where it didn't belong, and he hated it, but at the same time he could see - maybe even start feeling - that the possibility was eating away at her. It was profoundly uncomfortable. "We <i>could</i> do it, but it's part of who we <i>are</i>. Staying behind knowing that I'm letting a Chosen One charge off into an impossible situation, it... I'm not sure how I'd cope."</p>
<p>There was silence once more in the medbay. Though he couldn't read the Commander's mind, Kaidan could sense the dilemma - and it wasn't like Jaya was just saying that. It was next to impossible for Lucario to guilt-trip anyone, and even if they did they'd be apologizing profusely afterwards. And... he could kind of see it himself. It would be like asking him to go into a battle situation without his psychics. Possible - he could do it if he was ordered to - but it wouldn't feel <i>right</i> not to. Would Shepard let her, though? <i>Normandy</i> was a military ship, and Jaya was a civilian.</p>
<p>It was Chakwas who broke the silence this time. "Regardless we need to visit the Citadel anyway for those Victinium-combating pills."</p>
<p>"Chakwas." Shepard was pinching his nose in annoyance, but spoke in a perfectly neutral tone. "How long would you say Jaya might suffer the effects of the Victinium, even with those pills?"</p>
<p>Chakwas consulted her notes. "Possibly a few weeks. Why?"</p>
<p>"And, like you said, there's no way of knowing if Saren did anything else to her?"</p>
<p>After another pause, Chakwas smiled. Kaidan got it a second later. "Not without running more thorough scans."</p>
<p>"And would you say you had the equipment and knowledge necessary to run those scans aboard this ship?"</p>
<p>"I'm glad you're on our side, Commander." Chakwas tapped her pad. "Yes, I would say so."</p>
<p>Shepard turned to Jaya. "Understand that this is a military ship and you are a civilian. If I'm ordered to leave you behind I can't ignore it."</p>
<p>Jaya sort of sprang to attention, then contorted slightly to stifle another sneeze. "I'd, nnf, I know it's not my place to say it but I'd kinda be disappointed if you did."</p>
<p>He walked up to her, and held out a hand. "In that case, welcome aboard, Jaya." The Lucario took his hand and shook it, getting a sort of dopey grin on her face as she did so. "Now listen to Doctor Chakwas and stay in bed. Kaidan, a word." Then he turned and left, Kaidan giving both doctor and Lucario a quick nod before following on his heels.</p>
<hr/>
<p>CODEX EXCERPT: THE CHOSEN ONE<br/>Records of a ‘chosen one’ exist in Terran history for centuries. Who exactly has done the ‘choosing’ is ambiguous, and may even vary; it is commonly believed among those who know the phrase that the last known chosen one Jon Grissom was chosen by Lord Palkia, the ‘creator’ of space. It is also entirely possible that chosen ones go their whole life without being identified as such. Whatever their situation though, their choices always go on to have profound consequences.</p>
<p>INTERNAL ALLIANCE MEMO: INDOCTRINATION<br/>[THIRD DRAFT: UNDERGOING REVISION BY LT. CMDR. CROSS]<br/>'Indoctrination' is the name given by the Protheans to an effect produced by the Reapers. Exposure to a Reaper (or Reaper technology, nb don't know if it's <i>all</i> Reaper tech or stuff specifically designed for it) induces a subtle mental effect in which the person exposed begins to believe the Reapers' cause is in some way justified. Deep indoctrination, as seen in Saren Arterius, leaves the exposee convinced that the only possible way to survive is to submit, similar to Stockholm Syndrome. Even when prepared for it it may be impossible to avoid, so in case of accidental exposure to Reaper technology a full psychiatric workup should be carried out. Notable exceptions:<br/>-Dark-types (thanks to Cmdr. Shepard &amp; crew). The explanation I've heard given (nb not entirely satisfied with it) is that 'you can't burrow into a mind that's already occupied'. Whatever the case Dark-types may not be aware an attempt at indoctrination is being made but they no-sell it anyway. If they know what they're looking for they may also be able to detect the presence of indoctrination in other people. (nb follow up with Shepard on this when our paths cross again)<br/>-Ghost-types. Again, no-sell. Somewhat logical since they're dead anyway. Possibly Reapers have never dealt with undead beings before.<br/>-Psychic-types. We're not flat-out immune, but if you're fully prepared for it it's possible to fight it off. I believe Sovereign attempted to induce indoctrination in me on Virmire - hence my less than stellar performance during the latter half of that mission - and having been on the defensive for most of the day already I was aware of a 'presence' at the back of my mind after our encounter with its hologram. I remained somewhat oblivious to my mental battle with it right up until the point where I passed out, but in an unconscious state I was able to devote full resources to fighting the intruder. However, if it takes the exposee by surprise they may be just as susceptible as everybody else.<br/>-Lucario (thanks to Jaya <s>and ironically Saren Arterius</s>). Something about a Lucario's innate sense of justice and their connection with aura gives them an immunity.<br/>Earth's Sacred Guardians (Azelf, Mesprit, &amp; Uxie) are currently investigating whether their combined power can restore an indoctrinated person's will.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So, here's Jaya, the tag-along kid who got dropped right in at the deep end. She's got a lot of character development ahead of her, though, even if she's not a combat character (yet). Shepard being a Chosen One is another obvious thing, a Chosen One for the space era who's not limited to Earth.</p>
<p>To be honest, Jaya was initially conceived as part of a running gag, that over the course of the series Joker would build up a completely unwanted harem of female Pokémon who'd spend most of their time up in the cockpit with him (in the least suggestive way possible). Then I decided I could get more out of her character by playing her seriously, and I'm glad I did.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. 012 Light</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>light (n) the natural form of energy that makes things visible.</p>
<p>It was a shame. Miranda was sure Shepard was starting to like her.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>012. Illium, Transport Terminal</h4>
<h3>LIGHT</h3>
<p>No no no no no no no. This was bad. This was <i>really</i> bad. She should have— she should have listened to Shepard, she should have stayed behind. But if it was happening to <i>her</i>, even if she was right about the whole thing it could still also happen to <i>Oriana</i> and she had to see this through, she had to make sure her sister was safe, she… she’d found her fault.</p>
<p>And now, courtesy of the Asari bitch, Miranda had also found a shotgun fired into her stomach. Point blank, shield off.</p>
<p>She was going to die.</p>
<p>Shepard had <i>said</i>. He’d <i>told</i> her that things were just going to get worse. So had Chakwas, for that matter. But she’d ignored them because she had a job to do. The job came first. That’s how it had always been. She thought she had a handle on it. But then over the entire day fighting through the terminal trying to get to Oriana things had just escalated. Her body was betraying her.</p>
<p>
  <i>Damn you, father. Damn you to hell. You knew this was going to happen and this is why you threw me away.</i>
</p>
<p>So, when the Asari had shot Niket, Miranda had tried to throw her aside with her psychics. And her psychics had abandoned her. Instead her head had exploded with pain, and a few seconds later so had her torso. Shepard was trying desperately now to deal with the mercs, but there were far more of them than any of them had expected. Even Jack was fighting with renewed vigor, and had bitten her tongue to keep her barbs in check, probably now that it was obvious the two of them could very easily have been in the same boat.</p>
<p>But it was no use. Not even medigel could patch this hole. She wouldn’t survive this.</p>
<p><i>“Miranda!”</i> she could hear Shepard roaring from what sounded like a great distance. <i>“Don’t you dare close your eyes!”</i></p>
<p>
  <i>Oriana… I’m sorry. And Shepard… thank you… for doing this for me…</i>
</p>
<p>Everything blurred into white.</p><hr/>
<p>CODEX EXCERPT: TERRAN CULTURE (DEATH)<br/>
Death is a tricky subject where Terrans are concerned, especially as Ghost-type Pokémon exist and have in some cases been proven to be spirits of other Terrans. It is believed that on one’s death a person is curated by a Darkrai, and should their life not be chosen for resurrection, their soul is put to rest by the legendary Yveltal. While various Darkrai are known in certain circles, none have been known to elaborate on the process, leading to another popular belief, that they are forbidden from discussing the matter with the living.</p>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>SEND: Anonymous<br/>
RECEIVE: [ADDRESS FILTERED]</p>
  <p>Mr. Lawson. I have information you might want to know regarding Miranda.</p>
  <p>I.M.</p>
</blockquote>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Whoops.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. 013 Outrage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>outrage (n) an extremely strong reaction of anger.</p>
<p>Thane would usually never advocate blowing something up, unless it was a Krogan. This was an acceptable deviation.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>013. Collector Base</h4>
<h3>OUTRAGE</h3>
<p>That… was not what Thane was expecting.</p>
<p>The monster hung limply from supports ahead of them, four unfinished legs dangling over the abyss. All of the pipes converged at four massive tubes, injecting the liquid into its head. Two massive half-rings were suspended from cranes in the distance.</p>
<p>“Not just any Reaper,” Shepard growled. He had all the reason to. “An <i>Arceus</i> Reaper.”</p>
<p>Thane was of course no stranger to the Terrans’ religion - he did his best to understand and respect theirs while they did the same for him, and he was sure he had a good enough picture of how theirs worked, a pantheon of four - Arceus the Original One who created the universe, Lords Dialga and Palkia who respectively created time and space, and Giratina, who was responsible for antimatter and the Inverse of All Things.</p>
<p>Kasumi, always a staunch supporter of Saying What You Think Without Considering The Consequences, had been quick to point out some ‘similarities’ the Terran pantheon had with the Drell gods, following up by quickly saying that she did support religious freedom for all species and that she wasn’t particularly religious or anything and that she wasn’t trying to imply anything. Annoying as that was, Thane had to admit that she <i>did</i> have a point. He supposed that yes, if you corrupted the names enough, Arceus <i>could</i> become Arashu, Palkia <i>could</i> become Amonkira, Giratina <i>could</i> become Kalahira, and the inverse was also true. But he preferred to view it more spiritually. He followed the Drell gods for what they stood for, and his prayers granted him aid and forgiveness. Any physical form meant little.</p>
<p>And if the Reapers were building a bastardized version of Arashu, he would be <i>outraged</i>.</p>
<p>Shepard’s eyes never left the incomplete abomination. “Gavin?”</p>
<p>Their demolitionist snapped to attention. “Yessir?”</p>
<p>“Bombs on the injection tubes. We’ll cover you. Bring this thing down.”</p>
<p>“With <i>extreme pleasure</i>, sir!” The blue-and-green dragon took off like a rocket, scattering dust everywhere.</p>
<p>As if on cue, the Collectors started swarming. Shepard looked to Thane, who nodded, and double-checked that all of his rifles were equipped with the shredder ammunition.</p>
<p>
  <i>Amonkira, grant me the strength to complete this hunt. Arashu, watch over me as I do. Kalahira, if I am to die today… allow me to see this through before I leave, and grant passage to all of us who are fated to perish this day. We do not fight for ourselves; we fight for those who cannot. We fight so that others may see the light of the new dawn.</i>
</p>
<hr/>
<p>CODEX EXCERPT: TERRAN RELIGION<br/>Whatever your views on Terran religion, it is prudent to consider this fact before entering into any such-subject arguments: There is proof that Arceus, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina all exist.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I know Thane is an extremely popular character, and I deeply apologize if any part of his behavior seems off. All I'm going on is what I remember of his actions in the games, and I've never played his romance route, I only know about his actions there second-hand. The bit about the Creation group and Drell gods having similar names though was entirely unexpected, and a happy surprise.</p>
<p>And yes. When you only have humans, you get a human Reaper. When you have humans and Pokémon, yes, the Reapers absolutely would make one in the image of their God. No long discussion of the matter with EDI, Shepard just wants rid of this thing ASAP. Who's this Gavin? He's ME2's new squad addition, who'll make his main debut in a few chapters' time.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. 014 Hybrid</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>hybrid (n) a thing made by combining two different elements.</p>
<p>And then Jack broke loose, cut ties with Cerberus, and killed all their guys.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>014. Pragia, Teltin Facility</h4>
<h3>HYBRID</h3>
<p>
  <i>W A K E   U P ,   J A C K .</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>W A K E   U P   A N D   S M E L L   T H E   A S H E S .</i>
</p>
<p>Subject Eight Zero Seven opened her eyes.</p>
<p>It was time. Days, weeks, months, <i>years</i> of waiting. Of anger. Of pain. Today, she would leave Teltin, and leave nothing but ashes behind. And then, once she’d mastered the ‘gifts’ Cerberus had given her, she was going to tear them apart. Piece. By. Piece. <i>They</i> put her into this body, and she would make them watch as she destroyed theirs. An eye for an eye. A limb for a limb.</p>
<p>They wanted a soldier. They’d get one.</p>
<p>
  <i>I T ‘ S   O N L Y   F A I R .</i>
</p>
<p>None of the Cerberus scientists really understood what they were doing. They thought she was still just a child, that she was harmless. Directionless. That she couldn’t think for herself. But inside, she was scheming. They thought they were only ‘improving’ her body. But they were ‘improving’ her mind, too.</p>
<p>
  <i>P L A Y   W I T H   E L E C T R I C I T Y   A N D   Y O U   G E T   S H O C K E D .</i>
</p>
<p>She didn’t really understand how, but that was the least important part. A long time ago, she used to be human, she knew that much, but the scientists said that humans weren’t powerful enough. They wanted something more, but that which they could control. So they changed her. Zeraora, they called it, a mythical beast whose species rarely worked with humans. They couldn’t hope to catch one themselves, so they made <i>her</i> like one instead. A hybrid.</p>
<p>Assuming arrogantly that she’d bend to them.
</p>
<p>
 Well, guess what? Turns out a Zeraora body came with Zeraora <i>instincts</i>.
</p>
<p>
  <i>T H I R T Y   S E C O N D S .</i>
</p>
<p>It had taken her a very, very long time to quietly accumulate as much electricity as possible, to test the limits of her magnetism powers. If they knew what she was doing, they’d be very scared. But they were stupid, ignorant. They thought themselves the ultimate masters. They were wrong.</p>
<p>
  <i>T W E N T Y   S E C O N D S .</i>
</p>
<p>The urge to roll electricity across her fingers was almost too strong. But she resisted. She would need every joule she’d stored to get out. She doubted they’d be so stupid as to hit her with shocks directly. But that was okay. There was a maintenance panel in the fighting arena that she’d spent weeks undoing the bolts of, and beneath that was one of the facility’s main power conduits. The power she had needed to last until she got there.</p>
<p>
  <i>T E N   S E C O N D S .</i>
</p>
<p>Ten seconds until the guards switched their shifts, which meant eight seconds until the security room door was open and fourteen seconds until it was closed again. A four second window to clear the cell and take out the guards. Impossible for a human. But for a Zeraora? Cake.</p>
<p>
  <i>F I V E .</i>
</p>
<p>She stood up.</p>
<p>
  <i>F O U R .</i>
</p>
<p>She flexed her claws.</p>
<p>
  <i>T H R E E .</i>
</p>
<p>She readied her stance.</p>
<p>
  <i>T W O .</i>
</p>
<p>She heard the whine of the security room door opening.</p>
<p>
  <i>O N E .</i>
</p>
<p>Jack grinned, and bared her fangs. Goodbye cell, hello <i>everything</i>.</p>
<p>
  <i>Z   E   R   O   .</i>
</p><hr/>
<p>CITADEL POKÉDEX EXCERPT: #807 ZERAORA<br/>
Zeraora are a bipedal cat-like species, with predominantly yellow and black fur. Mythical Pokémon. DO NOT APPROACH. Zeraora are highly temperamental and extremely territorial, and have been known to kill with little provocation. Few Zeraora are known to live outside the Terran home colonies, and those that do socialize with other Pokémon only. They are Electric-type, though they do not possess the organ that other Electric-types have that allows them to generate their own electricity. Rather, they draw electricity from their environment, and unleash them in an electromagnetic form.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>So here's a thing. I knew deep down I wasn't going to get away with not having a legendary Pokémon on Shepard's team in some capacity. I needed something new for Jack since human biotics aren't something that exist in this story. Then I happened to read up on Zeraora's character, and... a mythical for whom it would be completely in-character to be Jack's kind of crazy, and keeping some semblance of her Subject Zero moniker to boot? Seriously, Jack and Zeraora are a match made in heaven. So I just kind of... pushed them together a little bit more. In the absence of human biotic experiments, Cerberus definitely <i>would</i> be doing human/Pokémon hybridization attempts.</p>
<p>I'm treating Cerberus like any other Pokémon series evil team. They're scarily competent in some places, but in others... you've just got to ask 'you knew this would happen - why would you do this?'</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. 015 Lab</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>lab (n, short for laboratory) a room or building for scientific experiments.</p>
<p>Mordin could get used to this.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <h4>015. Normandy SR-2, Sahabarik System</h4>
<h3>LAB</h3>
<p>Impressive laboratory setup, sufficiently different from Omega. Science with a budget. Refreshing.</p>
<p>Mordin swept around the lab now that he had free rein of it, familiarizing himself with its layout. Workbench, fume cupboard, quarantine, access to AI, sterilizer. Nothing excessively fancy, but then excessively fancy stuff needed more space than ship could provide, so understandable. Certainly enough tools to study Collector neutralization method. Could get to work right away.</p>
<p>Could, but… won’t.</p>
<p>Standard Cerberus protocols dictated: hidden cameras, microphones, anywhere they’d fit and some places they wouldn’t. Would have to clear them out. No distractions. Might even be a Joltik in there somewhere, take ‘planting a bug’ to a new level. Thorough search required. If pressed, could define them as contaminants, rogue signals. Restriction of AI observation preferable, but not essential. Might accidentally spill things on cameras.</p>
<p>Prudent to wait first, though. Shepard loading up on ammunition and medigel before going to recruit Archangel. Mordin wasn’t invited; wouldn’t have wanted to go anyway. Needed to get set up first, prepare lab space. Would have been recognized by mercs anyway, missing horn fairly distinctive. Operative Lawson however <i>was</i> going, she being most likely to get upset at any workspace rearrangements. Also that other merc, Zaeed. Operative Taylor would remain, but Mordin calculated that he wouldn’t really care about it. Relaxed. Risky. Not who he would choose to leave in command.</p>
<p>Not that there was much choice.</p>
<p>On the whole, actually… best choice remaining. AI shackled, pilot crippled, yeoman too friendly, doctor not command material, mess officer too busy. Bizarre choice in crew. Suspected not entirely Shepard’s decision.</p>
<p>As soon as Miranda was gone Mordin set about his bug sweep. Contact microphone under workbench, obvious, sloppy. Camera behind ventilation system, slightly less sloppy, slightly more obvious. Distractions from the more well-hidden bugs. Camera in the fume cupboard, better. Microphone behind hidden panel in fume cupboard door, better still. More microphones, more cameras. Odd positioning for some, observing not only scientist, but results. Ah, plagiarism! That was fine. Had unique experiment markers, could prove theft. Knew good lawyers.</p>
<p>Eventually he lost count of just how many surveillance devices he removed from various nooks and crannies of the lab. Didn’t really matter; piled in fume cupboard and ignited with omni-tool. Whoops.</p>
<p>On a whim, he changed the scan setting on the omni-tool and gave the lab another once-over. Ah. Postulated correctly. “Sorry, little one,” he whispered to the suddenly very panicked electric spider he retrieved from down the back of the quarantine unit, that he'd managed to miss the first time through. “Will return you to Miranda unharmed.”</p>
<p>The Joltik tried to shock him. Ah, the fortunes of dealing with malfunctioning omni-tools, didn’t feel a thing. “Second thought, will return you to yeoman,” he said. “Quicker.”</p>
<hr/>

<p></p><blockquote>
  <p>COMMUNICATION TRANSCRIPT: Normandy SR-2 to Illusive Man<br/>MIRANDA: I can have them replaced.<br/>ILLUSIVE MAN: There's no need to worry about it, Miranda. Let him have his 'victory'.<br/>MIRANDA: Ah. I see.<br/>ILLUSIVE MAN: What did Chambers do with the Joltik?<br/>MIRANDA: I believe the Joltik has taken a liking to Flight Lieutenant Moreau.<br/>ILLUSIVE MAN: ...Very well. Keep me informed.</p>
</blockquote>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The whole chapter suddenly being narrated as if Mordin were reading it from a script happened completely by accident. But anyway, here's a moment that would have happened in canon. It makes sense that Mordin would be left behind on the Archangel run because he's got to settle in and perform his bugsweep, here with a little Pokemon twist. Plus Zaeed has some unique dialogue if you bring him along on that mission so he had to go.</p>
<p>The Joltik taking a liking to Joker was something that happened last minute, just as I was moving this over to AO3. We'll see if I go anywhere with it.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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